• Rivalarrival
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    2 days ago

    the grid pattern of contrails that turn into a haze and then fully cloudy sky is something to behold

    That’s not really a causal relationship, though. The conditions that allow contrails to appear are the same conditions that allow clouds to form. The presence of contrails predicts clouds, they don’t really cause clouds. The clouds you’re seeing would form with or without the contrails.

    • Lyudmila [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      Fun science fact: In the case of silver iodide cloud seeding, it actually is a causal relationship. The silver iodide acts as a catalyst for the water in humid air and in other less visible clouds that contact the contrails. It causes the water to form droplets around the silver iodide particles and freeze, gaining the necessary mass to fall as rain or snow.