IIT Madras Research Maps Human Influence on Aerosol Levels and Coastal Climate

International study by IIT Madras has found significant impact of human activities on aerosols and climate patterns in coastal regions of India

IIT Madras Research Maps Human Influence on Aerosol Levels

One International study led by Indian Institute of Technology Madras has revealed insights into aerosols that play important role in cloud formation and precipitation. Conducted between March and July 2020 research highlights strong influence of human activities on cloud forming aerosols known as Cloud Condensation Nuclei across coastal regions. The findings have important implications as they provide robust empirical data to refine climate models, reduce uncertainties and improve accuracy of future climate predictions.

Research also found that anthropogenic organic matter was dominant factor in growth of these new particles challenging common belief that organic particles inhibit cloud formation. While it is true that organic particles can create surface films that affect cloud droplet formation, this study found that significant increase in number of organic particles can actually promote cloud formation.

Elaborating on this research lead researcher and atmospheric scientist Prof. Sachin S. Gunthe, also faculty in Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “Our research reveals that anthropogenic emissions strongly influence aerosol behaviour, particularly in how they form clouds. These findings challenge existing models and propose new avenues for understanding how human activities shape climate patterns.”

Further, Aishwarya Singh, former PhD student at IIT Madras who is now post doctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, said, “We witnessed firsthand how the drastic reduction in air pollutants during the lockdown provided a unique ‘natural experiment’. Our observations show that a cleaner atmosphere can be highly sensitive to new emissions, altering the aerosol-cloud interactions significantly, which can have a profound impact on climate predictions.”

Read More

• IIT Madras Develops Breakthrough Low-Cost Technology for Rapid Antibiotic Testing
• IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras Shine at Boeing’s 10th National Aeromodelling Competition