NSF: Scientists discover that salty sea spray affects clouds .- Científicos descubren que el mar salado nubes con efectos de aerosol

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., Haciendo una parodia En todo el planeta, cada día, los océanos envían plumas de mar aerosol en la atmósfera. Más allá de la poesía de la que se estrellan las olas del mar, este spray salada y rica en carbono también tiene un efecto dramático en la formación de nubes y la duración. 

More  information............  

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=136822&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

Aerosols have impact on cloud composition, duration

Oceans send plumes of sea spray into the atmosphere, altering the formation and duration of clouds. Credit and Larger Version

December 21, 2015

All over the planet, every day, oceans send plumes of sea spray into the atmosphere. Beyond the poetry of crashing ocean waves, this salt- and carbon-rich spray also has a dramatic effect on cloud formation and duration.

In a new paper published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Colorado State University atmospheric scientist Paul DeMott finds that sea spray is a unique, underappreciated source of what are called ice nucleating particles. These microscopic bits make their way into clouds and initiate the formation of ice, affecting the clouds' composition.

"The presence of these particles is critically important for precipitation and the lifetime of clouds, and consequently, for their radiative properties," DeMott said.

Added Nick Anderson, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research: "The development of clouds and precipitation is a core issue for understanding weather and climate processes. By studying ice nuclei, which can be considered a building block for clouds, these researchers will help piece together the puzzle of how clouds and precipitation form, especially over remote oceanic regions."

Clouds cover 60 percent of the Earth's surface at any given time. With their ability to reflect solar energy and absorb terrestrial radiation, clouds have dramatic effects on climate.

That ability is greatly influenced by the number, size and type of droplets and ice particles they contain. These cloud particles come from aerosols -- particles suspended in air -- from land and ocean surfaces.

From desert dust to fossil fuels, aerosols that affect clouds are everywhere.

The study has confirmed that ice nucleating particles from oceans are distinct -- both in their abundance and ice-making properties -- from land-sourced particles. Hence, their influence on the liquid-to-ice phase structure of clouds, and the clouds' radiative characteristics, can differ over vast swaths of Earth.

The laboratory portion of the study was conducted with other researchers at the NSF-supported Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment (CAICE), at which DeMott is a senior scientist.

Based at the University of California-San Diego, CAICE has laboratory wave flumes that simulate how ocean waves send sea spray aerosols into the air.

Researchers can study the biological and chemical makeup of these particles, as well as the transformations they undergo, and use special instruments to see how they influence cloud formation. DeMott and colleagues compared these data to other measurements made over oceans.

The study offers one explanation for why global climate models have consistently underestimated reflected, short-wave solar radiation in regions dominated by oceans, particularly in the southern hemisphere.

"Our paper gives a clearer picture of the behavior of major classes of atmospheric aerosols in clouds," DeMott said.

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734,

cdybas@nsf.gov
Anne Manning, Colorado State University, (970) 491-7099,

anne.manning@colostate.edu

Related WebsitesNSF Award: Laboratory and Surface-based Studies of Atmospherically-relevant Ice Nucleating Particle Sources, Concentrations and Compositions:

 http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1358495&HistoricalAwards=false
Science Nation: Sea Spray -- Complex chemistry with big effects on climate:

 http://1.usa.gov/1IdPDCi
NSF Award: CCI Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment:

 http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1305427&HistoricalAwards=false

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2015, its budget is $7.3 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 48,000 competitive proposals for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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Ice nucleating particles from sea spray make their way into clouds, affecting clouds' longevity.
Credit and Larger Version

Clouds cover 60 percent of Earth's surface at any given time.
Credit and Larger Version

Clouds' ability to reflect solar energy and absorb radiation affect Earth's climate.
Credit and Larger Version

Earth's oceans and atmosphere are inextricably linked in how long clouds last.
Credit and Larger Version

Ice nucleating particles from oceans are distinct from those on land, scientists have found.
Credit and Larger Version
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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NASA : Long-Term Warming Likely to Be Significant Despite Recent Slowdown

Five new NASA Earth science missions are launching in 2014 to expand our understanding of Earth’s changing climate and environment.

Feature Link:

NASA's "Earth Right Now" website

A new NASA study shows Earth's climate likely will continue to warm during this century on track with previous estimates, despite the recent slowdown in the rate of global warming.

This research hinges on a new and more detailed calculation of the sensitivity of Earth's climate to the factors that cause it to change, such as greenhouse gas emissions. Drew Shindell, a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, found Earth is likely to experience roughly 20 percent more warming than estimates that were largely based on surface temperature observations during the past 150 years.

Shindell's paper on this research was published March 9 in the journal Nature Climate Change.

A new NASA study suggests that projections of Earth's future warming should be more in line with previous estimates that indicated a higher sensitivity to increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Image Credit: NASA SVS/NASA Center for Climate Simulation

Global temperatures have increased at a rate of 0.22 Fahrenheit (0.12 Celsius) per decade since 1951. But since 1998, the rate of warming has been only 0.09 F (0.05 C) per decade -- even as atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to rise at a rate similar to previous decades. Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas generated by humans.

Some recent research, aimed at fine-tuning long-term warming projections by taking this slowdown into account, suggested Earth may be less sensitive to greenhouse gas increases than previously thought. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was issued in 2013 and was the consensus report on the state of climate change science, also reduced the lower range of Earth's potential for global warming.

To put a number to climate change, researchers calculate what is called Earth's "transient climate response." This calculation determines how much global temperatures will change as atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to increase – at about 1 percent per year -- until the total amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide has doubled. The estimates for transient climate response range from near 2.52 F (1.4 C) offered by recent research, to the IPCC's estimate of 1.8 F (1.0 C). Shindell's study estimates a transient climate response of 3.06 F (1.7 C), and determined it is unlikely values will be below 2.34 F (1.3 C).

Shindell's paper further focuses on improving our understanding of how airborne particles, called aerosols, drive climate change in the Northern Hemisphere. Aerosols are produced by both natural sources – such as volcanoes, wildfire and sea spray – and sources such as manufacturing activities, automobiles and energy production. Depending on their make-up, some aerosols cause warming, while others create a cooling effect. In order to understand the role played by carbon dioxide emissions in global warming, it is necessary to account for the effects of atmospheric aerosols.

While multiple studies have shown the Northern Hemisphere plays a stronger role than the Southern Hemisphere in transient climate change, this had not been included in calculations of the effect of atmospheric aerosols on climate sensitivity. Prior to Shindell's work, such calculations had assumed aerosol impacts were uniform around the globe.

This difference means previous studies have underestimated the cooling effect of aerosols. When corrected, the range of likely warming based on surface temperature observations is in line with earlier estimates, despite the recent slowdown.

One reason for the disproportionate influence of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly as it pertains to the impact of aerosols, is that most man-made aerosols are released from the more industrialized regions north of the equator. Also, the vast majority of Earth's landmasses are in the Northern Hemisphere. This furthers the effect of the Northern Hemisphere because land, snow and ice adjust to atmospheric changes more quickly than the oceans of the world.

"Working on the IPCC, there was a lot of discussion of climate sensitivity since it's so important for our future," said Shindell, who was lead author of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report's chapter on Anthropogenic and Natural Radiative Forcing. "The conclusion was that the lower end of the expected warming range was smaller than we thought before. That was a big discussion. Yet, I kept thinking, we know the Northern Hemisphere has a disproportionate effect, and some pollutants are unevenly distributed. But we don't take that into account. I wanted to quantify how much the location mattered."

Shindell's climate sensitivity calculation suggests countries around the world need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the higher end of proposed emissions reduction ranges to avoid the most damaging consequences of climate change. "I wish it weren't so," said Shindell, "but forewarned is forearmed."

For more information about the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, visit:

http://www.giss.nasa.gov

NASA

Guillermo GOnzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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