IITM finds under 3% black carbon in Solapur monsoon droplets
Scientists at IITM Pune just discovered that fewer than 3% of raindrop-forming cloud droplets during the 2018-19 monsoon over Solapur, Maharashtra, had black carbon, a pollutant from burning fossil fuels and biomass.
Since black carbon can mess with rainfall and climate, knowing it's barely present in these clouds is pretty big news for understanding our weather.
Aircraft finds clouds exclude black carbon
The team used aircraft packed with special instruments to fly through real monsoon clouds and measure black carbon levels.
They found much more of this pollutant below the clouds than inside them, sometimes up to 100 times less within the clouds themselves.
Turns out, natural cloud processes do most of the work keeping black carbon out, which helps scientists improve weather models for India's monsoon season.