Wow, So Trees Cause Cloud Formation and Create Climate ?

Problem is, will anyone listen, let alone read the info ?

This is Finland's Hyytiälä Forest, where
researchers collected field measurements,
in early spring.

First off folks, this really is not News. I'm amazed at the amount of info coming out lately as to vegetation's actual role in cloud and weather creation along with overall climate moderation and long term and sustainable  maintenance. Yes, more and more research is available which explains the fascinating role with which various healthy forests and other types of plant communities contribute heavily to global atmospheric weather mechanisms. Weather & climate it appears is far more than just mere physics, it also has a biological component. Oh my, how did  that happen ? And yet, you can almost count on this all being ignored and shoved under the carpet in favour of more politically heated subject matter in the need to beat the right wing fundies and vice-versa from the other side. Meanwhile Nature and the rest of humanity take it in the backside while a handful of power obsessed ideologues argue over who's got the bigger pot-gut for brains. Below here I'll post several pertinent quotes about a forest's amazing ability at cloud formation. Added to the list of VOC aerosol producing cloud trees like Maples and Oaks are trees like Pines and other coniferous trees which comes from a study in Finland where forest trees of Boreal and Temperate ecosystems are now recognized as invaluable components as weather mechanism creators & drivers.

Pine forests are especially magical places for atmospheric chemists. Coniferous trees give off pine-scented vapors that form particles, very quickly and seemingly out of nowhere.  New research by German, Finnish and U.S. scientists elucidates the process by which gas wafting from coniferous trees creates particles that can reflect sunlight or promote cloud formation, both important climate feedbacks. The study is published Feb. 27 in Nature. 

“In many forested regions, you can go and observe particles apparently form from thin air. They’re not emitted from anything, they just appear,” said Joel Thornton, a University of Washington associate professor of atmospheric sciences and second author on the paper.

Scientists have known for decades that gases from pine trees can form particles that grow from just 1 nanometer in size to 100 nanometers in about a day. These airborne solid or liquid particles can reflect sunlight, and at 100 nanometers they are large enough to condense water vapor and prompt cloud formation.

University of Washington: "Pine forest particles appear out of thin air, influence climate"

Interestingly, this understanding has actually been known for many many years, but only recently becoming more and more republished from archived information and research being pulled out of the dungeons of libraries where historical work was shelved because it was an inconvenient exposure of the failure of Human leadership at  proper custodianship of the Earth. They are now forced to reckon with these incredible mechanisms of climate drive because those same powerful forces of nature are presently turning on mankind. There was one statement in that article which truly illustrates the purposeful ignorance of those in charge of climate correction and here it is below.

The study shows the chemistry behind these particles’ formation, and estimates they may be the dominant source of aerosols over boreal forests. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has named aerosols generally one of the biggest unknowns for climate change.

Seriously ? So they labeled aerosols generally one of the biggest unknowns for climate change ? The truth is they have actually known about this for decades. Irresponsibly clear cutting forests by unbridled unregulated profit making Corporate Venues around the globe has resulting in the desertification in many areas of the earth. Cut down any vegetation in a wholesale manner and clouds are less likely to form as well as historical seasonal rainfall totals becoming far less as well. And it doesn't take a scientist or genius to recognize this either. The average lowly developing world farmer (someone actually more connected to the land and it's subtle changes) has seen this coming for years and is mostly helpless against a growing powerful corporate entity blessed by most governments who bulldoze right in and take their land, often by force. But there were some other interesting things they found by means of experiment.

In the new paper, researchers took measurements in Finnish pine forests and then simulated the same particle formation in an air chamber at Germany’s Jülich Research Centre. A new type of chemical mass spectrometry let researchers pick out 1 in a trillion molecules and follow their evolution.

Felipe Lopez-Hilfiker, UW

Results showed that when a pine-scented molecule combines with ozone in the surrounding air, some of the resulting free radicals grab oxygen with unprecedented speed.  “The radical is so desperate to become a regular molecule again that it reacts with itself. The new oxygen breaks off a hydrogen from a neighboring carbon to keep for itself, and then more oxygen comes in to where the hydrogen was broken off,” Thornton said.

Current chemistry would predict that 3 to 5 oxygen molecules could be added per day during oxidation, Thornton said. But researchers observed the free radical adding 10 to 12 oxygen molecules in a single step. This new, bigger molecule wants to be in a solid or liquid state, rather than gas, and condenses onto small particles of just 3 nanometers. Researchers found so many of these molecules are produced that they can clump together and grow to a size big enough to influence climate. 

Boreal or pine forests give off the largest amount of these compounds, so the finding is especially relevant for the northern parts of North America, Europe and Russia. Other types of forests emit similar vapors, Thornton said, and he believes the rapid oxidation may apply to a broad range of atmospheric compounds. 

“I think a lot of missing puzzle pieces in atmospheric chemistry will start to fall into place once we incorporate this understanding,” Thornton said.

Yes, it is interesting Mr Thornton, but I wouldn't hold my breath on this having much meaning in these stupid climate debates at least from the scientific side. Why you ask ? Because nothing is actually being proposed that even remotely attempts to heal what has been lost. Discovery World's series called "Project Earth" is loaded with nothing but kooky far out bizarre inventions created from someone's  imagination steeped in Sci-Fi World with it's host, businessman billionaire Kevin O'Leary incessantly chanting after some researcher explains how the stupid thing works, "Yeah but can we make $$$ with it ?" Seriously, it's like being in a McGuyver episode where you've got mere minutes to survive a catastrophic situation and you start questioning Mac's idea before he implements his brilliant scheme into action to see if it's been patented or not first. But back to our reality, there's absolutely no more time here at this point, so  you do what you responsibly can to reverse the damage. But in order to truthfully make it a success requires that you employ biomimicry of Nature which has worked for countless thousands of years, not some tantalizing Geeky proposal suggested by someone who's left the reality of the Natural World and gone over to the Dork Side of the Farce . Now let me tell you something about this link I just published before here. Okay, so yes I used a snarky play on words, but the reality of what those Experts are proposing is simply stupid. I previously wrote about my work involving the pharmaceutical industry with regards research data collection. Most of the General Practice Doctors and Specialists told me the hardest thing they have is patient compliance and making lifestyle changes. Patients who chain smoke cigarettes refuse to give them up and demand the doctor do something about it by means of prescribing a drug. Drugs ONLY are an attempt at counteracting the negative side effects brought on by the person's irresponsible lifestyle. The proposals out there in the science-world that get so much attention in the media are asinine and absurd, but they have great Sci-Fi entertainment value which is great for ratings. In no way are there any viable options for actually tackling the causes of climate change. It's all about countering the negative side effects by an otherwise technologically Zombied public who are experiencing the debilitating effects of Nature Deficit Disorder.

Credit: © Pakhnyushchyy / Fotolia

Another related story to this University of Washington one was the actual account from the Jülich Forschungs Zentrum (Jülich Research Center) itself where the actual aerosol measurements and experiment actually took place. They found that the vapours can condense on small aerosol particles (starting from clusters of only a few nanometres in diameter) suspended in the air, causing them to grow to around 100 nanometres, at which size they can not ONLY reflect incoming sunlight, but also act as a condensation nuclei for cloud formation in the atmosphere. Again, keep in mind that despite the language in the article, this is not newly discovered. Maybe it is to these individuals, but others have known about this for perhaps decades, but it's simply been ignored until recent times. To be honest, there are time when I don't know how much of this stuff is the Scientist & Researcher, or some over zealous journalist embellishing the findings to create a News event sensation. 

The researchers' findings have bridged a major gap in knowledge in atmospheric and climate research. "Thanks to our much improved understanding of the role that naturally occurring substances in the atmosphere play in the formation of organic aerosol particles, we will in future be able to make more reliable assessments of their impact on cloud formation and sunlight scattering, and thus on climate," says Dr. Thomas F. Mentel from Jülich's Institute of Energy and Climate Research -- Troposphere (IEK-8). 

Experts consider a good understanding of the relationship between the increase in soil temperature, plant emissions, aerosol formation, and cloud formation to be essential for predicting future climate development correctly. "Our current research findings will help to improve computer models of the atmosphere and reduce existing uncertainties in climate prediction," says Prof. Andreas Wahner, director at IEK-8.

Source: Major Enigma Solved in Atmospheric Chemistry

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Some Final Thoughts:

You know the truly sad thing here ? There is not one viable option or proposal to rebuild the Earth's various  vegetative ecosystems as a means of reversing what mankind has done. They have the knowledge and understanding, know what exactly should be done, but not one makes sense deal on the table. The problem is the various world economies around the globe need to be built. That's why the Project Earth Fix-It-Pill approach is only being offered. Yes I know all about the various forestry pilot programs from grant monies being done around the globe, but we need more than a handful of pet projects back by token research grant monies provided by some charitable source given with the understanding that some plaque of dedication be created honoring them. The real problem is the human component, not some materialistic technological innovation. The problem is that Science while supposedly offering all these wonderful ideas, really cannot deal with changing human behavior which is the source of our problems in the first place. How do you get mankind to voluntarily and for the right reasons do the correct thing in the way they live ? You don't! There is no way humanly possible to do that. Do you think more laws and regulations, short of outright Marshall Law is the answer ? Here in Sweden they had a program of plain clothes undercover Eco-Gestapo forcing people to put the proper recycle waste in just the right receptacle container or be given a citation and that was a total monetary failure. This info is not posted to change world policy. Doing so would to be under the delusion that they will ever unite in the first place. That is never going to happen. It is however here for individuals who actually care, get a clue and will make personal and practical application in their own personal lives.

Also, keep in mind and be aware that there have been and will continue to be many attempts to use such information as a means of justifying and promoting the irresponsible practice of geoengineering. In other words another fix-it-pill approach to put the brakes on consequences and other side effects as opposed to nipping the cause in the bud. Lately their have been many articles that attempt to explain the slowdown of warming tread as coming from recent volcanoes. See Here . The problem is that even such findings and acknowledgement of what forests do as referenced in the articles above and others published on this site will be used as an excuse to dropping tonnes of chemicals in a last ditch effort emergency to curb climate change side effects. You can even read about this stupid proposal Here . Even NASA has long known about all the various known aerosols and their effects on climate and pollution Here . Healthy forested ecosystems and other plant communities are the solution. But even the scientists stress that the new understanding is not a panacea for climate change as forests can and will stop emitting VOCs or cloud forming aerosols if they become too stressed from heat or lack of water. So the ridiculous scheme of having a squadron of retrofitted Bombers with industrial sized spraying apparatus to spew tonnes of potentially harmful chemical aerosols into the atmosphere would not only cost massive amounts of money, but most likely do nothing as far as climate improvement. One possible consequence would be the increased chemical buildup over time on the ground in Nature killing many of the beneficial soil microbes and other organisms which actually create function within all plant ecosystems. On the positive note for some, a handful of special interests will make a killing of this, both figuratively and literally. 

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References of further interest: 

Previously I have written about the anomalous anti-bacterial properties of wood here with my post PLASTIC Vrs WOODEN CUTTING BOARDS . Now in a related note both with regards pine trees, water and filtering of bacteria we have this post released yesterday. MIT group shows xylem tissue in sapwood can filter bacteria from contaminated water.

Need a water filter? Peel a Pine tree branch

Image Courtesy of the MIT Researchers

A false-color electron microscope image showing E. coli bacteria (green) trapped over xylem pit membranes (red and blue) in the sapwood after filtration. If you’ve run out of drinking water during a lakeside camping trip, there’s a simple solution: Break off a branch from the nearest pine tree, peel away the bark, and slowly pour lake water through the stick. The improvised filter should trap any bacteria, producing fresh, uncontaminated water. Well actually it's not that simply, but there is some more potential with proper biomimicry. 

On another more ecosystem and climatology note there is a related website and research institute in Germany from the Technical University at München called Ecoclimatology Institute. Here is the link and research articles dealing with climate change effects in the Alps and weather effects on increased forest fires in Bavaria. Who knows, maybe they've coined a new expression here, something similar to Bioclimatology.

Chair of Ecoclimatology