Summer is the time for ship tracks—especially off the west coast of North America.
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The narrow clouds form when water vapor condenses around tiny particles of pollution.
Scientists investigate how clouds respond to ship plumes.
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In recent years, scientists have turned their attention to the ways in which human-produced aerosol pollution modifies clouds.
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Ship tracks are a common atmospheric occurrence. Scientists are now combining machine learning and satellites to detect them automatically.
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They may look like airplane contrails, but the streaky clouds shown in this photo-like image formed around the exhaust left in the wake of ships traveling along the northwest coast of North America.
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Ships and islands contributed to an intricate cloud pattern over the northern Pacific Ocean in April 2013.
Serpentine clouds crossed tracks in the eastern Pacific Ocean in mid-January 2013.
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Ship emissions in the southeast Atlantic help create more reflective clouds that produce a local cooling effect.
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On March 4, 2009, the skies over the northeast Pacific Ocean were streaked with clouds that form around the particles in ship exhaust.