Scientists from the research network CLOUD have discovered that aerosol particles form rapidly from such iodine vapours, which can serve as condensation nuclei for cloud formation. The CLOUD researchers fear a mutual intensification of sea ice melt and cloud formation, which could accelerate the warming of the Arctic and Antarctic.<\/p>\n
Depending on a variety of factors, clouds can cause the region below them to get warmer or cooler. Due to human influence, there are most likely more cooling effects from clouds today than in pre-industrial times, but how clouds contribute to climate change is not yet well understood. Researchers currently believe that low clouds over the Arctic and Antarctic, for example, contribute to the warming of these regions by blocking the direct radiation of long-wave heat from the Earth’s surface.<\/p>\n
Clouds are formed by aerosols, suspended particles in the air, to which water vapour attaches. Such suspended particles<\/a> or aerosols naturally consist of dusts, salt crystals or molecules released by plants. Human activities cause soot particles, sulphuric acid, and ammonia molecules to be released into the atmosphere, which can cluster and form new aerosol particles in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
As published in a journal article titled ‘Role of iodine oxoacids in atmospheric aerosol nucleation<\/a>‘, scientists from the CLOUD consortium have now studied the formation of aerosol particles from iodine-containing vapours. Every litre of seawater contains 0.05 milligrams of iodine, and when it enters the atmosphere, iodic acid or iodous acid is formed through sunlight and ozone.<\/p>\n