The culprit causes strong storms hidden in the atmosphere

The tiny aerosols in the atmosphere may be contributing to strong and powerful storms in the world.

Jiwen Fan, an expert working at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy, and colleagues discovered that they play an important role in shaping the weather and climate. These particles contribute to strong storms, increasing cloud size and rainfall. The results of the study are published in the journal Science on January 26.

Aerosol particles in the atmosphere increase the cloud size and rainfall of storms.(Photo: Reuters).

Aerosol consists of solid, liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere, about the size of a thousand width of a human hair. They are the result of urban environmental pollution, industrial zone pollution, forest fires and other sources."The presence of these particles is one of the reasons many storms become strong and create a lot of rain," Fan said.

The team discovered how tiny particles less than 50nm provide energy for the upward movement of air from the Earth's surface into the atmosphere, creating clouds and then rain. .

They also found that, when larger particles are not present in the atmosphere under warm and humid environmental conditions, aerosols will strongly affect storm clouds, creating strong storms with lots of ice and snow. , lightning or rain.

"In the same clean and humid conditions as those that exist on the ocean and some tropical lands, tiny aerosols have a major impact on weather and climate. Broadly speaking, the research results for Since the pre-industrial era, human activities have made the storms in these areas much stronger , " Fan said.