Every year, Lubna Dada and her colleagues gather at CERN in Switzerland to conduct experiments on cloud formation. Clouds are a major source of uncertainty in climate predictions, impacting heat absorption and reflection. Dada’s team has discovered that trees release chemicals called sesquiterpenes, which are highly effective in seeding clouds. This finding suggests that trees play a significant role in cloud formation, especially in regions with less pollution. By understanding how trees contribute to cloud formation, scientists can refine climate models and gain insights into the pre-industrial atmosphere. However, incorporating the physics of tree aerosols into climate models presents a computational challenge. Dada’s team plans to investigate the interaction between anthropogenic emissions and tree aerosols to gain a more realistic understanding of cloud formation worldwide.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230930090902/https://www.wired.com/story/a-revelation-about-trees-is-messing-with-climate-calculations/