1
$\begingroup$

I would like to ask you about evaporation from sea water. Can you increase evaporation by spraying seawater to the air? Is there any difference compared to freshwater spraying (aerosol particles)?

$\endgroup$
1

1 Answer 1

0
$\begingroup$

Yes, you can increase evaporation by spraying the sea water as an aerosol because this increases surface area. It's the same with fresh water too, but why would you want to do it? It wouldn't have any noticeable effect on the humidity of the general area. The only useful effect that I can see concerns fresh water only. Spraying the water from a pond or small lake as fine droplets would increase the oxygen content and benefit the fish. Hot weather depletes the oxygen in the water and sometimes fish become distressed, so if you want to save your valuable coy carp it might be a good idea. In the ocean it doesn't work, the sea is too vast.

$\endgroup$
5
  • $\begingroup$ Creating clouds for places where are good conditions to bring them a little bit further and make precipitation? $\endgroup$
    – Luckasino
    Jan 6, 2020 at 15:21
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You would have to squirt a fantastic amount of water very high in the air to create clouds. I doubt if it could be done. A better way would be to plant lots of trees. Woods and forests can alter the climate by transpiring water vapour and increasing precipitation, as well as having other beneficial effects. $\endgroup$ Jan 6, 2020 at 15:34
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah trees are one opportunity, yet there are areas where you cannot plant trees. So I am just thinking about Bjorn Lomborg idea of spraying water to make a clouds (for cooling Earth's surface)... Maybe just a utopistic idea, but who knows... $\endgroup$
    – Luckasino
    Jan 6, 2020 at 15:51
  • $\begingroup$ True enough there are places where trees wouldn't grow, but the sort of place they would is the coastal Namib Desert in southern Africa where sea fogs regularly invade the land. When they encounter an obstacle, they condense on it and water drips to the ground. The Nazca Desert on the coast of Chile also has these conditions. The good thing about trees is that they work for you year after year, with little or no effort on your part. $\endgroup$ Jan 6, 2020 at 16:03
  • $\begingroup$ Hmmm so only some nutrients in the soil... This can be also solved by fog collectors! Interesting device. Also, some bugs are using their bodies to condensate moisture on Namib desert! very interesting. I was just starting to think about these things because I am processing some meteorological data for Zambia for farmers... Not quite good trends in agroclimatology for them :/ $\endgroup$
    – Luckasino
    Jan 6, 2020 at 16:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.