Complex Numbers

Head in the Clouds

Science.

Cloud-Making Aerosol Could Devastate Polar Sea Ice  
An overlooked but powerful driver of cloud formation could accelerate the loss of polar sea ice.

A word about "aerosol." Well, a few words. This might have shifted because of information about viral transmissibility, but it occurs to me that normal people don't use "aerosol" the same way scientists do. This is probably because a while back, there was the ozone hole crisis, which was popularly reported as being caused by, among other things, aerosol propellants in cans of shit like hair spray. But that's a specific use of the term; in general, it refers to particles suspended in air. Or something like that. I'm not an expert; I just like reading about this stuff.

Now, while studying the atmospheric chemistry that produces clouds, researchers have uncovered an unexpectedly potent natural process that seeds their growth.

So this isn't just another climate change scare article? Don't get me wrong - I'm firmly in the "anthropogenic climate change" camp. I just don't care about it anymore. The time to do something about climate change was 30 years ago. Now it's too late. Enjoy the slide to oblivion. Still, there's some interesting science coming out of its study.

This discovery emerged from studies of aerosols, the tiny particles suspended in air onto which water vapor condenses to form clouds. As described this month in a paper in Science, researchers have identified a powerful overlooked source of cloud-making aerosols in pristine, remote environments: iodine.

But... don't they use iodine to seed clouds for rain? How was this overlooked?

Anyway, I'm not going to quote any more of the article; I'd have to leave too much out, so it's better to just read the thing. I'm mostly just leaving this here as a case study in science advancement and reporting.

Because if nothing else, we're at least still learning new things.