A research by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has shown the profound influence of human activities on cloud-forming aerosols.

The team, along with collaborations from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, studied the procedure called ‘Cloud Condensation Nuclei’ (CCN) along India’s coastal regions.

Research surrounding the interaction of aerosols -- tiny, suspended particles in air essential for cloud formation and precipitation -- is a critical area that continues to generate the largest uncertainties in climate change predictions.