Rainmaker: Scientists Say Ocean Life Vital For Rain

Rainmaker: Scientists Say Ocean Life Vital For Rain

Scientists have discovered a new dimension when it comes to rain. They have discovered that plenty of organic matter in clouds is released via the air through breaking waves in the ocean. “Ocean waves release microscopic bits of organic matter that could be important in bringing rain and snow on land” Kim Prather, an atmospheric chemist from University of California-San Diego has been quoted as saying. She has also explained that the wave spray could lead to rain as well as snow fall.

To explore this phenomenon, Prather's team pumped ocean water into massive tanks called wave flumes for the purpose of studying and discovering the factors involved. A wave generator was started by the research team and the particles that were collected were then released.

The research team then started to run the particles through a machine referred to as the mass spectrometer which shows each particle's chemical structure through the use of ions to measure mass and change. The experiments were repeated using different mixtures of algae to comprehend which particles are released by which species.

The research team found some of the spectral profiles had a near perfect match with ice-accreting all stars collected in flights over Sierra Nevada mountains. According to Prather, the bigger goal of the study is to determine how bits of organic matter fit into the global climate pattern.

Prather's research team from the Centre for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment provided a presentation regarding their findings at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The research team also made efforts to measure the organic particles released from the waves and matched these to particles taken from rain and snow bearing clouds.

For microbes, the clouds are ecosystems. Consider the “red rains” received I Kerala once which were just red algae that had been asborbed by the rain clouds. With their study of “aerial ecosystems,” Prather's team is close to finding out just how clouds cause rain. The team is flying special research planes over the West coast in the US. The team is taking samples of clouds and analyzes the content.“We’re seeing lots of biological components such as bacteria and molecules associated with microbial life,” Prather has been quoted as having commented.

Brent Christner of Lousiana State University at Baton Rouge collected snow from diverse areas in France, Antarctica and the US to find evidence that bacteria were present as well as influential in causing snow to fall on the earth. Experts have explained how this is possible. Rain falls when particles seed the development of ice crystals in the clouds. These small particles cause ice to form, grow and even fall. If the temperature of the particles increases, the rain results. Ice crystals themselves are catalysts for growth as ice grows around tiny particles of dust.

This is stellar research which can uncover more about cloud seeding and its role in causing rain as well as snow to fall on the earth. With more discoveries on the way, more about precipitation patterns could be uncovered. To quote an expert, “finding that there are organisms that live for at least part of their life cycle in the atmosphere — that is as wonderful as stories about magical creatures that live in the clouds, and all the more impressive for being true.”