CLOUD sees through the haze
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 - 09:12
in Astronomy & Space
The CLOUD (Cosmic Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) experiment at CERN, which is studying whether cosmic rays have a climatically significant effect on aerosols and clouds, is also tackling one of the most challenging problems in atmospheric science – understanding how new aerosol particles are formed in the atmosphere and the effect that these particles have on climate. Aerosol particles and clouds have a large net cooling effect on the planet and, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, they represent the largest source of uncertainty in present climate models. A new study published by CLOUD now sheds new light on the first steps of cloud formation, helping to improve our understanding of the aerosol–cloud–climate connection.