Ocean spray helps to 'wash' polluted air.

(From Jerusalem Post)

Byline: JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

Sea spray over the oceans helps clean air that has been polluted overland, say Hebrew University researchers, who add that the air pollution is washed down by rain. An article on this research appears in the online magazine Science Express (www.science-express.org) and will soon appear in the journal Science (www.sciencemag.org).

The rain-suppressing effect of such pollution is significantly neutralized, says Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the university's Department of Atmospheric Sciences. Previously, he and his and colleagues have shown that particles generated by such elements as urban pollution, desert dust and burning of vegetation hinder precipitation by creating nuclei in clouds around which droplets are formed. These droplets are too small to bond …