Pollen has greater weather impact than assumed: Swiss research

Swiss research team discovers blind spot in weather models Keystone-SDA

Pollen and bacteria from forests in the air can cause heavy rainfall, Swiss researchers have shown in a new study.

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Such biological particles have not yet been taken into account in weather and climate models.

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“In view of our results, weather and climate models must definitely take biological particles into account,” said Athanasios Nenes in a press release issued by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).

This is particularly true as an increase in these particles is expected with global warming.

Clouds form when water condenses on particles in the atmosphere. Extreme weather events are associated with the formation of large amounts of ice in clouds.

As researchers from EPFL showed in a study published on Monday in the journal Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, biological particles such as pollen, bacteria, fungal spores and plant material released into the air from forests are very effective in the formation of ice in clouds.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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