NEWS

October 2024 Newsletter

Find out more about CERTAINTY researchers’ participation in EarthCARE, our latest publications, and other updates.

CERTAINTY promotes scientific discovery by following FAIR principles, ensuring open and structured data. A strong Data Management Plan supports long-term data sharing and reuse. Project outputs will be publicly available. This approach ensures the project’s findings are transparent, discoverable, and valuable to the global research community.

Desert dust, created by wind erosion in arid regions, is the main source of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) in the atmosphere, which are crucial for determining the balance between ice crystals and liquid droplets in mixed-phase clouds (MPCs). Without INPs, cloud droplets in MPCs would remain liquid until they reach about -37°C, the temperature at which homogeneous freezing occurs. However, INPs can trigger ice crystal formation earlier, leading to rapid ice growth. This influences precipitation, cloud properties, and the Earth’s albedo.

A new study, involving over 1,000 Finns used an innovative interactive tool to assess the impact of tailored climate information on knowledge, attitudes, and psychological detachment from climate change. The study highlights the need for different communication strategies depending on the audience’s vulnerability.

The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) of the World Climate Research Programme is an international climate modelling project designed to better understand past, present and future changes in the climate.
CMIP has been coordinating model experiments across the climate science community since 1995. Over the years, it has become one of the cornerstones of climate science worldwide, providing crucial information to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Preparations for the seventh phase of the project (CMIP7) are well underway.

The CERTAINTY Project Kickoff Meeting took place from February 27th to February 29th, 2024, at Maison Irène et Frédéric Joliot-Curie in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting aimed to initiate discussions and collaborations among project partners. Throughout the meeting, participants engaged in insightful discussions, exchanged ideas, and outlined plans for project implementation. The agenda included presentations from key stakeholders, discussions on policy context, and detailed talks on various work packages and project aspects. Additionally, social events such as dinners facilitated networking and collaboration among attendees.

CERTAINTY: Cloud-aERosol inTeractions & their impActs IN The earth sYstem project, funded by the Horizon Europe program, aims to advance our comprehension of clouds and aerosols in the climate. This project aims to refine and use observations and models to understand and describe the intricate interactions between clouds and aerosols within climate and weather system