Rapid growth of anthropogenic organic nanoparticles greatly alters cloud life cycle in the Amazon rainforest.

ABSTRACT: Aerosol-cloud interactions remain uncertain in assessing climate change. While anthropogenic activities produce copious aerosol nanoparticles smaller than 10 nanometers, they are too small to act as efficient cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The mechanisms responsible for particle growth to CCN-relevant sizes are poorly understood. Here, we present aircraft observations of rapid growth of anthropogenic nanoparticles downwind of an isolated metropolis in the Amazon rainforest. Model analysis reveals that the sustained particle growth to CCN sizes is predominantly caused by particle-phase diffusion-limited partitioning of semivolatile oxidation products of biogenic hydrocarbons. Cloud-resolving numerical simulations show that the enhanced CCN concentrations in the urban plume substantially a

SUBMITTER: Zaveri RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8754412 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature