Billions upon billions of soot particles enter Earth’s atmosphere each second, totaling about 5.8 million metric tons a year—posing a climate-warming impact previously estimated at almost one-third that of carbon dioxide.

Now, researchers say the climate-altering properties of these particles can change within just hours of becoming airborne, rather than days as previously assumed.

“Until now, models treated soot particles as simple spheres, but in reality, soot particles are aggregates—clumps of many smaller particles. The lace-like shape lets soot collect chemicals much faster than previously thought,” Khalizov explained. “That means soot’s climate properties evolve quicker, affecting both its warming and cooling effects, and also its lifetime.”