How humans invite storm

EVER wondered why it’s windy and thunderous when you need to go to office and quiet on weekends? Well, blame yourself. Scientists have found that human activity that releases aerosols is the culprit behind an increase in tornadoes and hailstorms during summer weekdays.

Watch before you eat

FARMERS in urban outskirts mostly rely on wastewater for growing vegetables. The level of air pollutants like aerosols is also high in these areas. Scientists have found that both these factors have a cumulative effect on the quality of the vegetables.

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH Chemical alert Occupational exposure to a chemical used in dry-cleaning solutions and to degrease car parts raises the risk of Parkinson’s disease six-fold. Scientists linked Trichloroethylene to the brain disorder after studying 99 sets of twins. One in each pair was a sufferer of the illness, which can cause limb tremors. The US Environmental Protection Agency says the chemical is a carcinogen. Annals of Neurology, November 14 (online) HEALTH SCIENCES Skip a beat with sweet fizz

Count carbon the cheap way

MONITORING air pollution just got simpler. A handy and low-cost instrument has been developed for researchers to measure and analyse soot level in the air.

Letters

How love of science is killed  

Cloud view clears up

HOW cloudy is it outside? Will it rain? The answers may depend on the level of atmospheric pollution in one’s region. Cloud-forming microscopic particles, called aerosols, absorb and reflect solar radiation.

Sun screened

CALL it a conspiracy between cloud and pollution. Stretches of clouds, impregnated with fine pollutants, or aerosols, reflect a large amount of sunlight over India back into space. This could be a major factor in the reduced radiation on the Indian soil, said researchers from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.

Size matters

RAIN comes from clouds. But where do clouds come from? Through the process of evaporation and transpiration, water vapour rises higher into the atmosphere, deposits on fine particles, such as dust, air pollution, pollen and bacteria, condenses and forms the cloud.

Letters

Desert cash crops will make India poor The western part of India, specifically the dry region, will play an important role in determining the Indian monsoon and even global climate patterns. Our team at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) recently completed an analysis on groundwater depletion in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan and found an overall decline of 20 cm per year; there was no significant recharge through monsoon rainfall.

During wind and rain

Scientists  around the world have been confused by the role of wind and pollutants on rainfall. But now they have a model. It shows that wind shear—a change in wind speed and direction between different altitudes—plays a crucial role in the whole process. A research team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the Department of Energy in the US created a computer model using atmospheric data from northern Australia and eastern China.