do aerosol (airborne) particles increase or decrease rainfall?
The answer, according to findings by an international team of scientists, headed by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is that both are true – depending on local environmental conditions. “Both camps are right”, said Prof. Meinrat O. Andreae, director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany, a co-author of the publication. “But you have to consider how many aerosol particles there are.” Added Rosenfeld, “The amount of aerosols is the critical factor controlling how the energy is distributed in the atmosphere.” In an article entitled, “Flood or Drought: How Do Aerosols Affect Precipitation?” appearing in the Sept 5 issue of the journal Science, the team proposed a conceptual model that explains the apparent dichotomy, following the energy flow through the atmosphere and the ways it is influenced by aerosol particles. This model allows the development of more exact predictions of how air pollution affects weather,
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