CARI in action.
September is here and our thoughts are now turning to the fall color and cooler temperatures. While it might be cooler with fewer hours of daylight, temperatures this fall, which begins on September 22, are expected to be warmer than normal for much of the country.
Last year we saw the warmest year since weather record keeping began in the mid 1800s. There is no debating our planet is warming at an unprecedented rate. Weather extremes are becoming more commonplace. But what if there was a way to slow this warming. Scientists are now testing ways to do just that.
Some think finding a way to actually brighten clouds and deflect the sun’s energy back into space could be very effective. One group of atmospheric scientists from the University of Washington is studying marine cloud brightening (MCB) on a small scale.
Aerosols in the air, like salt particles from the oceans, volcanic ash, smoke from fires, dust from deserts, etc., are “seeds” in the air. Atmospheric water molecules are drawn to these particles like magnets, forming water droplets and eventually creating a cloud.
Clouds are nature’s own sunshades, reflecting sunlight back into space. This creates a natural cooling effect that is an integral part of earth’s climate patterns. What these scientists want to find out is how these aerosols interact with NATURAL cloud formation and how they could possibly enhance their reflectivity.
The aerosol they are using, in a small scale experiment, is sea salt. They are spraying the sea salt into the air, hoping to increase cloud brightness and reflective capabilities.
The scientists have developed a Cloud-Aerosol Research Instrument (CARI) to see if it is viable. The device sprays a plume of ocean water loaded with sea salt past a series of scientific instruments to see how the aerosols impact natural droplets within the cloud and ultimately shape their reflectivity.
This is not going to end climate change but it has the potential to make at least, a little impact on our rapidly warming earth. Exploring possible solutions like this are experimental. There is still a tremendous amount of work to do and then some serious decisions have to be made before this type of cloud modification SHOULD be used. There will need to be many computer simulations and we really have to make sure it does not interfere with earth’s natural weather patterns.
Photo: by University of Washington Cloud Brightening Program
