Air pollution cleansed through ocean cloud processes, say hebrew university scientists
Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have demonstrated that sea spray over the oceans contributes to cleansing air that has been polluted overland. The air pollution is washed down by rain, which occurs because the rain-suppressing effect of such pollution is significantly neutralized. An article on this research appears in the online magazine Science Express, published today.
In previous studies, Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Ring Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and colleagues from the Hebrew University and elsewhere have shown that particles generated by such elements as urban pollution, desert dust and burning of vegetation hinder precipitation by creating nuclei in clouds around which droplets are formed. These droplets are too small to bond together to form actual raindrops, thereby reducing rainfall.
The new observations by Prof. Rosenfeld, together with Hebrew University Ph.D. student Ronen Lahav, Prof. Alexander Khain and Dr. Mark Pinsky, show that precipitation from similar polluted clouds over the ocean is much less affected, because large sea salt nuclei seed the clouds and override the precipitation-suppression effect of the pollution nuclei. Raindrops initiated by the sea salt grow by collecting small cloud droplets that form on the pollution particles, thereby cleansing the air and increasing rainfall prospects.
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Earth Sciences
Earth Sciences (also referred to as Geosciences), which deals with basic issues surrounding our planet, plays a vital role in the area of energy and raw materials supply.
Earth Sciences comprises subjects such as geology, geography, geological informatics, paleontology, mineralogy, petrography, crystallography, geophysics, geodesy, glaciology, cartography, photogrammetry, meteorology and seismology, early-warning systems, earthquake research and polar research.
Newest articles
Combining robotics and ChatGPT
TUM professor uses ChatGPT for choreographies with flying robots. Prof. Angela Schoellig has proved that large language models can be used safely in robotics. ChatGPT develops choreographies for up to…
How the Immune System Learns from Harmless Particles
Our lungs are bombarded by all manner of different particles every single day. Whilst some are perfectly safe for us, others—known as pathogens—have the potential to make us ill. The…
Biomarkers identified for successful treatment of bone marrow tumours
CAR T cell therapy has proven effective in treating various haematological cancers. However, not all patients respond equally well to treatment. In a recent clinical study, researchers from the University…