Climate: Ocean Phytoplankton May Trigger Ice Formation in Clouds

For the first time ever, scientists have shown that phytoplankton in remote ocean regions may contribute to rare airborne particles that trigger ice formation in clouds. The findings could mean a new way at looking at the global system of weather.

Clouds in Earth's atmosphere are made of liquid water droplets, ice particles or a mixture of both. Ice particles affect how long a cloud exists and how much rain, hail or snow it produces. Clouds also help control temperature of the climate by reflecting sunlight and also by trapping heat close to Earth's surface.

In this latest study, a team of researchers investigated marine life from the biological ecosystem in the Arctic Ocean, Western Atlantic and North Pacific by collecting biological matter using a remote controlled boat launched from research ships, along with handheld sampling equipment. They then combined these direct measurements with global computer modelling scenarios of the atmosphere.

"Breaking waves in the ocean generate large quantities of airborne sea spray," said Theo Wilson, lead author of the new study, in a news release. "Some sea spray particles contain biological material linked to the ocean's ecosystem. It has been speculated in the past that some of this biological material may trigger the formation of ice in clouds-making the 'ice nucleating particles' (INPs) in the atmosphere. Now we have clear evidence that marine biological material such as matter exuded from phytoplankton is able to nucleate ice and could do so in the atmosphere. This could be particularly important in the polar regions."

Understanding the sources and distribution of these particles that trigger ice formation in clouds can improve weather models, and also increase confidence in climate model predictions. This particular study is huge when it comes to better understanding climate change.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.

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