The Arctic is rapidly losing sea ice, and less ice means more open water, and more open water means more gas and aerosol emissions from the ocean into the air, warming the atmosphere and making it cloudier.
So when researchers from the lab of University of Michigan aerosol scientist Kerri Pratt collected aerosols from the Arctic atmosphere during summer 2015, Rachel Kirpes, then a doctoral student, discovered a curious thing: Aerosolized ammonium sulfate particles didn’t look like typical liquid aerosols.
Working with fellow aerosol scientist Andrew Ault, Kirpes discovered that ammonium sulfate particles, which should have been liquid, were actually solid. The team’s results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Solid aerosols can change how clouds form in the Arctic. And, as the Arctic loses ice, researchers expect to see more of these unique particles formed from oceanic emissions combined with ammonia from birds, which will impact cloud formation and climate. Additionally, understanding the characteristics of aerosols in the atmosphere is critical for improving the ability of climate models to predict current and future climate in the Arctic and beyond.
Read more at University of Michigan
Image: As the Arctic loses ice, researchers expect to see more of these unique particles formed from oceanic emissions combined with ammonia from birds, which will impact cloud formation and climate. (Image courtesy: Andrew Ault and Matt Gunsch)