Scientists discuss complexities of studying tiny particles that have a big impact on climate

Art Sedlacek, an atmospheric scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, has gone to extreme lengths to study aerosols—tiny particles emitted from factories, forest fires, car exhaust, and sometimes from natural sources. He has flown on planes outfitted with high tech equipment through wildfire plumes and over the ocean, and has visited stations all over the globe to observe these particles and understand their potentially big impact on climate. But scienti