As the frequency and size of wildfires continues to increase worldwide, new research from Carnegie Mellon University scientists shows how the chemical aging of the particles emitted by these fires can lead to more extensive cloud formation and intense storm development in the atmosphere.
As the frequency and size of wildfires continues to increase worldwide, new research from Carnegie Mellon University scientists shows how the chemical aging of the particles emitted by these fires can lead to more extensive cloud formation and intense storm development in the atmosphere. The research was published online today in the journal Science Advances.
"The introduction of large amounts of ice-nucleating particles from these fires can cause substantial impacts on the microphysics of clouds, whether supercooled cloud droplets freeze or remain liquid, and the propensity of the clouds to precipitate," said Ryan Sullivan, associate professor of chemistry and mechanical engineering. Understanding these impacts is a key factor in accurately modeling Earth's climate and how it could continue to change.
Building on research Sullivan's team in the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies published last year, the authors collected a variety of different plant materials, burned them and analyzed the particles emitted in the smoke. In particular, the team was interested in ice nucleating particles, rare types of particles that can catalyze ice crystal formation in the atmosphere at higher than usual temperatures and thus greatly affect climatic processes, including cloud formation and whether a cloud precipitates or not. In fact, most precipitation over land starts from ice-containing clouds.
Read more at Carnegie Mellon University
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