Climate Science—Settled Until It’s Not
18 hours ago Charles Rotter
Ah, the marvel of modern climate science. For decades, we’ve been reassured that climate models are finely tuned instruments of prediction, capable of telling us what our planet will look like in a hundred years. But every so often, like a plot twist in a mediocre whodunit, we discover a brand-new “game-changing” variable. Enter methanethiol (MeSH), the newly crowned darling of aerosol cooling over the Southern Ocean.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq2465According to a recent study published in Science Advances, MeSH—a sulfur compound previously relegated to obscurity due to its reactivity—is now recognized as a key player in climate cooling.
The discovery shows that emissions of MeSH, derived from marine biological activity, enhance the sulfate aerosol burden by up to 70% over the Southern Ocean. These aerosols scatter sunlight and cool the atmosphere, reducing the radiative bias of climate models in this region. Oh, and this isn’t a minor tweak. We’re talking about a 28% boost in the direct radiative effect of aerosols over a vast area. Oops, missed that one for decades.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/12/13/climate-science-settled-until-its-not/
