Planet-Cooling Atmospheric Particle Discovered

An international collaboration of researchers has recently established that atmospheric particles called Criegee biradicals (CBR) could potentially be used to cool down the planet so significantly, that the phenomenon would mitigate for the effects of global warming and climate change.

What makes these particles so interesting to scientists is the fact that they can clean up the atmosphere naturally, in the sense that they are very powerful oxidizers. These biradicals are especially effective at oxidizing very harmful pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

Both these chemicals are potent greenhouse gases produced by pollution and the burning of fossil fuels. Having the ability to remove them from the air in a relatively natural manner would boost our planet's ability of taking care of itself.

The study was carried out by investigators from the University of Manchester and the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, and the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).

Details of the research appear in a paper called “Direct Kinetic Measurements of Criegee Intermediate (CH2OO) Formed by Reaction of CH2I with O2,” which was published in the latest issue of Science.

One of the most interesting aspects of this research is that it managed to identify a series of atmospheric particles that was first hypothesized as far back as the 1950s. However, the tools to detect them were not available at the time.

Even now, it took the full power of the DOE Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab) Advanced Light Source (ALS), a third-generation synchrotron facility, to discover and analyze them.

An important thing the team learned was that CBR lead to the formation of sulfate and nitrate in the air faster and more efficiently than theoretical predictions suggested. What this means is that more condensation nuclei are made available for clouds to form around.

Clouds are known for their ability to cool the planet, primarily by blocking off sunlight from reaching the surface, and reflecting it back into space. This is very important considering that the average planetary temperature increased by 0.8 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years.

“Our results will have a significant impact on our understanding of the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and have wide ranging implications for pollution and climate change,” UM reader in atmospheric chemistry and study author Dr. Carl Percival explains.

“A significant ingredient required for the production of these Criegee biradicals comes from chemicals released quite naturally by plants, so natural ecosystems could be playing a significant role in off-setting warming,” adds UB atmospheric chemistry professor Dudley Shallcross.