By: Robert Nishida, University of Waterloo
In a new Science Advances article, scientists performed aircraft measurements of 5-day-old wildfire smoke in pyrocumulonimbus cloud, a unique cloud formed above a fire, and found unusually large aerosol particles. Based on the observed size of the particles, the authors claim climate models may greatly underestimate the cooling effect of intense wildfire smoke. The authors state it is important to accurately represent aerosol properties to improve climate projections as pyrocumulonimbus cloud events become more frequent.
Study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw6526
Press release: https://seas.harvard.edu/news/2025/12/sky-high-smoke
New research in Science demonstrates a link between PM2.5 exposure and Lewy body dementia, the second most common form of dementia. From a sample of >56 million US Medicare beneficiaries, including Parkinsons’ patients with or without dementia, researchers found a significant link between PM2.5 exposure and dementia risk. This result was further supported by inoculating mice with samples of PM2.5 and observing the effects. The authors also demonstrate a potential causal mechanism involving a specific protein called α-synuclein, which is a hallmark of Lewy body dementia. Regarding PM2.5 exposure, “unlike age or genetics, this is something we can change,” said the study’s lead author in a recent news article highlighting the study.
Study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu4132
News article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/04/fine-particulate-air-pollution-trigger-forms-dementia-study-lewy-body
A 2025 study in Science Advances explores marine cloud brightening (MCB), a geoengineering strategy that sprays sea salt into clouds aiming to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. The study’s new modelling shows that MCB methods may also affect stratospheric and tropospheric ozone through a combination of atmospheric circulation, transport and chemistry. The authors state that their study demonstrates “the need for providing a holistic picture of any climate intervention”.
Study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu4038
Press release: https://research.noaa.gov/marine-cloud-brightening-may-cool-the-earth-but-could-impact-the-ozone-layer/
Within a year of its release, Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe by science journalist Carl Zimmer is considered one of the “Ten Best Science Books of 2025” by Smithsonian magazine. Zimmer provides an accessible history of ‘aerobiology’ in the book, and Prof. Linsey Marr reviewed the book shortly after its release in February 2025 entitled, “Why researchers have long overlooked airborne diseases,” reflecting on how COVID-19 revived attention to “long-standing questions in aerosol disease transmission.”
News article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-ten-best-science-books-of-2025-180987773/
Book (Air-Borne by Carl Zimmer): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724793/air-borne-by-carl-zimmer/
Review by Prof. Linsey Marr: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00459-8
This Issue’s Newsletter Committee:
Editor | Lindsay Yee, University of California, Berkeley
Editor | Sarah Petters, University of California, Riverside
Senior Assistant Editor | Robert Nishida, University of Waterloo
Senior Assistant Editor | Qian Zhang, UL Research Institutes
Junior Assistant Editor | Jenna Ditto, Washington University in St. Louis