Their stickiness makes it
hard to get them through an inlet into a measuring device, but these compounds may play a significant role in the formation and alteration of
aerosols, tiny airborne
particles that can contribute to smog or to the nucleation of raindrops or ice crystals, affecting the Earth's climate.
Study helps narrow down one reason why clouds are
hard to model From the DOE / PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY RICHLAND, Wash. — Airborne
particles known as «
aerosols» strongly impact the way clouds form and change, but accurately capturing this effect in computer climate models has proved to be notoriously difficult.