I have been enjoying the CERN website.
CERN experiment points to a cloudier pre-industrial climate25 May 2016
Geneva, 26 May 2016. In two papers1,2 published today in the journal Nature, new results from the CLOUD3 experiment at CERN4 imply the baseline pristine pre-industrial climate may have been cloudier than presently thought. CLOUD shows that organic vapours emitted by trees produce abundant aerosol particles in the atmosphere in the absence of sulphuric acid. Previously it was thought that sulphuric acid – which largely arises from fossil fuels – was essential to initiate aerosol particle formation. CLOUD finds that these so-called biogenic vapours are also key to the growth of the newly-formed particles up to sizes where they can seed clouds.
“These results are the most important so far by the CLOUD experiment at CERN,” said CLOUD spokesperson, Jasper Kirkby. “When the nucleation and growth of pure biogenic aerosol particles is included in climate models, it should sharpen our understanding of the impact of human activities on clouds and climate.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers that the increase in aerosols and clouds since pre-industrial times represents one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate change5. CLOUD is designed to understand how new aerosol particles form and grow in the atmosphere, and their effect on clouds and climate.
CLOUD also finds that ions from galactic cosmic rays strongly enhance the production rate of pure biogenic particles – by a factor 10-100 compared with particles without ions. This suggests that cosmic rays may have played a more important role in aerosol and cloud formation in pre-industrial times than in today’s polluted atmosphere.
A paper published simultaneously in Science (Bianchi, F., et al. Science, doi 10.1126/ science.aad5456(link is external), 2016) describes an observation of pure organic nucleation at the Jungfraujoch observatory by the same mechanism reported by CLOUD. The measurements did not involve CLOUD directly but most of the authors are also members of the CLOUD collaboration.
“The observation of pure organic nucleation at the Jungfraujoch is very satisfying,” said Kirkby. “It confirms that the same process discovered by CLOUD in the laboratory also takes place in the atmosphere.”
Videos:
- CLOUD experiment – How it works
- CERN experiment points to a cloudier pre-industrial climate
- Footage and animations about CLOUD experiment
Photos:
Available here.
https://press.cern/press-releases/2016/ ... al-climate--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You know how we speak of "Purple mountains majesty" and the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains?
That is because conifer trees exhale terpenes besides oxygen and the various terpenes bind with water in the atmosphere to give the smoky and blue or purple cast to the atmosphere.
Terpenes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerpeneTerpenes (/ˈtɜːrpiːn/) are
a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, particularly conifers,[1] though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeteria. They are often strong-smelling. They may protect the plants that produce them by deterring herbivores and by attracting predators and parasites of herbivores.[2] Many terpenes are
aromatic hydrocarbons and thus may have had a protective function.[3] The difference between terpenes and terpenoids is that terpenes are hydrocarbons, whereas terpenoids contain additional functional groups.
They are the major components of resin, and of turpentine produced from resin. The name "terpene" is derived from the word "turpentine". In addition to their roles as end-products in many organisms, terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks within nearly every living creature. Steroids, for example, are derivatives of the triterpene squalene.
When terpenes are modified chemically, such as by oxidation or rearrangement of the carbon skeleton, the resulting compounds are generally referred to as terpenoids. Some authors will use the term terpene to include all terpenoids. Terpenoids are also known as isoprenoids.
Terpenes and terpenoids are the primary constituents of the essential oils of many types of plants and flowers. Essential oils are used widely as fragrances in perfumery, and in medicine and alternative medicines such as aromatherapy. Synthetic variations and derivatives of natural terpenes and terpenoids also greatly expand the variety of aromas used in perfumery and flavors used in food additives. Vitamin A is a terpene.
Terpenes are released by trees more actively in warmer weather, acting as a natural form of cloud seeding. The clouds reflect sunlight, allowing the forest to regulate its temperature.[4][/b]
[b]The aroma and flavor of hops, highly desirable in some beers, comes from terpenes. Of the terpenes in hops myrcene, β-pinene, β-caryophyllene, and α-humulene are found in the largest quantities.[5]
Terpenes are also major constituents of Cannabis sativa plants, which contain at least 120 identified compounds.[6] In addition to being responsible for the plant’s aroma, they can act synergistically with cannabinoids. In fact, there are several promising applications based on the combined use of cannabinoids and terpenes, such as new acne therapies utilizing CBD with the monoterpenes limonene, linalool, and pinene; new antiseptic agents with CBG and pinene; treatment of social anxiety disorder using CBD with limonene and linalool; and treatment of sleeping disorders by adding caryophyllene, linalool, and myrcene to 1:1 CBD/THC extracts.[6]
Blue Ridge Mountains:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_MountainsThe Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap.[1] The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southernmost portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere,[2] thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.[3]Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks: the Shenandoah National Park, in the northern section, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in the southern section. The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile (755 km) long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crestlines with the Appalachian Trail.[4]
