Fog is a vital water resource. Could it disappear in a warming world?

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By Hannah Richter, Science. 

Excerpt: Each summer in California’s Central Valley, the land bakes as temperatures climb past an oppressive 35°C. And then, a wall of fog rolls in from the ocean, cooling the air and moistening the ground with tiny water droplets. For millions living in the most populous U.S. state, the fog spawned where a cold ocean meets a Sun-warmed coast is like “natural air conditioning,” says Peter Weiss-Penzias, an atmospheric chemist at the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz. It also delivers critical water for agriculture and ecosystems. Yet scientists don’t know what makes some years foggier than others, how fog might change in a warming world, or what pollutants it carries. ...This month, Weiss-Penzias, [Sara] Baguskas, and their colleagues will begin fieldwork on the $3.65 million Pacific Coastal Fog Research project, funded over 5 years by the Heising-Simons Foundation. Using fog collectors and climate models, the project will for the first time systematically measure coastal fog’s chemistry, ecological role, and response to warming. The campaign is a “hugely unique and unprecedented opportunity for us to connect the dots,” Baguskas says.... 

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