Marine Nitrate Ions

Geophys. Res. Lett. (2023) 10.1073/pnas.2308696120: “Outlook cloudy,” One of the wicked problems in climate science is modeling the evanescent character of clouds. They both reflect visible + ultraviolet light [short-wave radiation], with a cooling effect on the planet, but block infrared or ‘heat radiation’ [long-wave radiation] from exiting to space. “The possible effects of marine microorganisms on cloudiness above the ocean, and the feedback that such effects might in turn have on climate, have been investigated for years, centering mostly around emissions of dimethyl sulfide.” Chamba et al. focused instead on nitrate ions + their effects on marine aerosol nucleation. “Their observations from experiments conducted in the South Pacific suggest that nitrate ions are key species involved in aerosol nucleation in the pristine marine atmosphere and that nitrate ion formation is related to short-term microbial processes and dimethyl sulfide formation.”