Sunlight changes aerosols in clouds
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 08:01
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- Today's climate models regard organic aerosols as static carbon-based molecules, but scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine showed that the particles are very dynamic. Exposure to sunlight transforms the aerosol composition drastically. Changing the composition alters how the particles behave, a topic of interest to scientists and climate modelers. Artwork from this study graced the cover of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.
