New Scientist: The fragrant smell of the trees is one of the nicest things about taking a walk in the woods. But the organic compounds trees pump out don't just register well with our noses: they also help cool the climate by encouraging clouds to form.
As plants respire, they emit chemicals called volatile organic compounds. In the atmosphere, these VOCs can interact with other chemicals to form particle "seeds" that clouds can grow around. Climate models predict that the clouds seeded by plant respiration...