Aerosols trap heat and increase temperatures

The most visible impact of air pollution is the haze, a brownish layer of pollutants and particles from biomass burning and industrial emissions, that pervades most regions in Asia. A recent international study, the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), has revealed that this haze is transported far beyond the source region, particularly during the dry season.

Latitudinal distribution of radiative flux at different layers has been measured for the first time over the Indian Ocean from 15°N to 20°S during intensive field
phase of INDOEX 1999. Simultaneously measurements have been made over three Indian ground stations, viz. Delhi, Pune and Trivandrum. The basic feature of
radiative flux over the Indian Ocean, Delhi, Pune and Trivandrum is similar, i.e. the radiative flux increases with altitude and reaches a maximum value at 15 km

Measurements and models show that enhanced aerosol concentrations can augment cloud albedo not only by increasing total droplet cross-sectional area, but also by reducing precipitation and thereby increasing cloud water content and cloud coverage. Aerosol pollution is expected to exert a net cooling influence on the global climate through these conventional mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate an opposite mechanism through which aerosols can reduce

Too many aerosols, too less rainfall

This document contains the summary for Policymakers: The Science of Climate Change - IPCC Working Group I.

It details the following key features:
1. Greenhouse gas concentrations have continued to increase
2. Anthropogenic aerosols tend to produce negative radiative forcings
3. Climate has changed over the past century

Scientists claim that sulphate aerosols reduce global warming

A proper inventory of atmospheric emissions from natural sources is basic to our understanding of the atmospheric cycle of the trace metals (and metalloids), and is also needed for assessing the extent of regional and global pollution by toxic metals1. It is generally presumed that the principal natural sources of trace metals in the atmosphere are wind-borne soil particles, volcanoes, seasalt spray and wild forest fires2–6.

Pollution from Africa and Indonesia reaches Indian Ocean region in monsoon transition periods

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