Isoprene (2-methyl-1, 3-butadiene) is a nonmethane volatile organic compound (VOC) with the largest global emission and high reactivity. The oxidation of isoprene crucial to atmospheric photochemistry contributes significantly formation secondary aerosol. Here, we conducted comprehensive observations in polluted megacities Nanjing Shanghai during summer 2018. We identified multiple functionaliz...

Heavy smoke from forest fires in the Amazon was observed to reduce cloud droplet size and so delay the onset of precipitation from 1.5 kilometers above cloud base in pristine clouds to more than 5 kilometers in polluted clouds and more than 7 kilometers in pyro-clouds. Suppression of low-level rainout and aerosol washout allows transport of water and smoke to upper levels, where the clouds appe...

Plants emit a diverse array of phytogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The production and emission of VOCs has been an important area of research for decades. However, recent research has revealed the importance of VOC catabolism by plants and VOC degradation in the atmosphere for plant growth and survival. Specifically, VOC catabolism and degradation have implications for plant C balance...

The main goal of this study was to improve the knowledge of ultrafine particle number distributions in large urban areas and also to call the attention to the importance of these particles on assessing health risks. Measurements of aerosol size distributions were performed during 2 weeks, with distinct pollutant concentrations (polluted and clean periods), on the rooftop of a building located i...

Particulate air pollution has been shown to strongly suppress precipitation from convective clouds over land. New observations show that precipitation from similar polluted clouds over oceans is much less affected, because large sea salt nuclei override the precipitation suppression effect of the large number of small pollution nuclei. Raindrops initiated by the sea salt grow by collecting smal...

Atmospheric aerosols often contain a substantial fraction of organic matter, but the role of organic compounds in new nanometer-sized particle formation is highly uncertain. Laboratory experiments show that nucleation of sulfuric acid is considerably enhanced in the presence of aromatic acids. Theoretical calculations identify the formation of an unusually stable aromatic acid-sulfuric acid com...