The research comes at a time of growing interest in aerosols—small pollution particles, often produced by industrial activities—and their influence on global weather and climate. Aerosols are known to produce a temporary cooling effect on the climate, and research increasingly suggests that air pollution may have helped to cover up some of the effects of human-caused climate change (Climatewire, Jan. 22). This means ongoing efforts to reduce pollution may be accompanied by enhanced warming, scientists note, along with a variety of other weather-related side effects.

The new study reinforces the idea that pollution has a significant influence on atmospheric processes, down to daily weather patterns. Previous research has already demonstrated that larger aerosol particles can lead to stronger storms.

Particles in the air can interact with water vapor and form droplets, influencing the formation of clouds. One widely covered modeling study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2014, suggested that pollution from Asia can intensify storms in the northwestern Pacific and may even affect weather patterns over North America.

But until now, the influence of the tiniest pollution particles has been largely overlooked.

“Previously, scientists had this concept that these ultra-fine particles, they are too small to be ‘activated,’ to be transformed into cloud droplets,” Jiwen Fan, the lead study author and a scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, told E&E News.

The researchers found that the tiny particles had an even greater effect on storm intensity than their larger counterparts. The tiny particles are lifted higher into the air before they begin to interact with water vapor and transform into cloud droplets, forming taller clouds. The resulting high concentration of water droplets forming the clouds release large amounts of heat as they condense, which helps to invigorate the air rising up through the cloud and intensify the brewing storm.

If human pollution continues to encroach on the region’s remaining untouched areas, they write, the resulting weather changes “could have profound effects on other places around the globe.”

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net.