Pioneering new research has given a fresh insight into the crucial role that sea spray plays in climate change.
Sea spray, which is produced in abundance across all the world’s oceans, is one of the greatest sources of atmospheric aerosols - tiny particles that not only scatter and absorb sunlight but also influence climate indirectly through their role in cloud formation.
Understanding how these particles take up water from the atmosphere, a process known as hygroscopicity, is important because it determines how much sunlight they reflect and how well they can form clouds.