Racing

Wiebke Scholz

When cars are rushing, coalmines dust
trees are breathing
people sneezing
and volcanoes break the crust,

myriads of armies, just like shifting sands,
float through mist,
some persist -
they‘re driven by turbulence

they gather,
they meet,
they cluster,
they seed

the first price is their aim to gain,
who grows fast?
Who is large?
- cause only the lucky remain.

You might ask where this will just lead:
cities grey
and white the sky
from clouds, some low, some high.

they shatter the sight
they scatter the light
reflect the bright
back to the height

- thus might reduce the heat.

How strongly that is hard to know:
theory
and IPCC
suggest a clouds albedo‘s like that of snow

But how large is the effect of all our industry?
Results from laboratory
merely explanatory -

The Science

The poem describes the life of particles, floating in the air. A large fraction of these so-called aerosols are formed by gaseous molecules, that cluster together to form a tiny droplet (not water droplets, but the process is similar). After overcoming a certain size, they can grow by collecting other particles and gaseous molecules. Competing with other aerosols and dilution, this is not always easy. Once large enough and many, they form smog in cities, lead to brighter and longer-lived clouds and thereby have an effect on the radiative balance of the earth.

The Poet

Wiebke Scholz is a PhD student in the field of atmospheric physics. Her research focuses on the intertwining between emitted trace gases by both nature and humanity and the formation of aerosols. She cares about climate change and sustainability, loves nature, and is an active member of Engineers Without Borders. Writing a lot during high school, she forgot about it during her busy studies. Learning about Consilience reminded her of her former passion, and this poem is her first one about science, so you can see it both as a comeback and a debut.

Next poem: The Classics by Bryan Field