CERN's CLOUD experiment

Apparently it gave divided results: the cosmic ray effect they were looking for may have some influence on cloud formation at high altitudes but low altitude clouds are more likely to depend on ... organic particles from plants and animals!

Guess which side is getting the publicity?

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/August/24081102.asp
Scientists thought that [cosmic ray] factors alone could explain cloud formation, but CLOUD has proved other vapours must be involved.
Kirkby says the only other condensable atmospheric vapours are organic compounds.
[....]
The CLOUD team will now try to identify which organic species are responsible for aerosol nucleation.

CLOUD was an experiment in a sealed chamber about what some particles may do to other particles. A more realistic approach imo is to look at actual weather records over decades: temperature, cloud cover, and sun/cosmic ray activity. Apparently no actual correlation found as of 2009, see indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=slides&confId=52576.

Abstract of CERN technical report on CLOUD

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/nature10343.html
Role of sulphuric acid, ammonia and galactic cosmic rays in atmospheric aerosol nucleation

Atmospheric aerosols [ ie particles from plants and animals ] exert an important influence on climate1 through their effects on stratiform [clouds]

( Read more... )

CERN's CLOUD experiment

Apparently it gave divided results: the cosmic ray effect they were looking for may have some influence on cloud formation at high altitudes but low altitude clouds are more likely to depend on ... organic particles from plants and animals!

Guess which side is getting the publicity?

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/August/24081102.asp
Scientists thought that [cosmic ray] factors alone could explain cloud formation, but CLOUD has proved other vapours must be involved.
Kirkby says the only other condensable atmospheric vapours are organic compounds.
[....]
The CLOUD team will now try to identify which organic species are responsible for aerosol nucleation.

CLOUD was an experiment in a sealed chamber about what some particles may do to other particles. A more realistic approach imo is to look at actual weather records over decades: temperature, cloud cover, and sun/cosmic ray activity. Apparently no actual correlation found as of 2009, see indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=slides&confId=52576.

(no subject)

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- attributed to Dwight D Eisenhower, 8 November 1954