Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere hit new record highs in 2022, with no end in sight to the rising trend, according to this new report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). This Bulletin represents the latest analysis of observations from the WMO GAW Programme. It shows globally averaged surface …
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Mauna Loa CO2 record, the longest continuous record of CO2 in the atmosphere. Initiated by Charles D. Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the record provided the first compelling evidence that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere …
Abstract Black carbon in soot is the dominant absorber of visible solar radiation in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic sources of black carbon, although distributed globally, are most concentrated in the tropics where solar irradiance is highest. Black carbon is often transported over long distances, mixing with other aerosols along the way. …
Hydroxyl radicals are often called the "detergent" of the atmosphere because they control the atmosphere's capacity to cleanse itself of pollutants. In this article the researchers show that the reaction of electronically excited nitrogen dioxide with water can be an important source of tropospheric hydroxyl radicals.
Aerosols play an integral role in climate by directly scattering or absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly these particles serve as condensation and ice nucleic in clouds. Ice formation in tropospheric clouds is required for snow and most rainfall.
If two scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are correct, people will still be driving gasoline-powered cars 50 years from now, churning out heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
Stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations below a pre-industrial doubling (~550 ppm) is a commonly cited target in climate policy assessment. When the rate at which future emissions can fall is assumed to be fixed, the peak atmospheric concentration – or the stabilization “frontier” – is an increasing and convex function …
Rates of atmospheric deposition of biologically active nitrogen (N)are two to seven times the pre-industrial rates in many developed nations because of combustion of fossil fuels and agricultural fertilization. They are expected to increase similarly over the next 50 years in industrializing nations of Asia and South America. Although the …
Common to many proposals addressing climate change is a cap on carbon emissions or carbon content of fuels. A cap will generate a market value for carbon. A key issue is who will receive this value. Many agree that there should be a 100 percent auction of carbon permits, but …
"Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment" provides compelling evidence of the extent and severity of such dramatic change over the past 30 years on the region's environment due to both natural processes and human activities. The atlas is the first major publication to depict environmental change in all of Africa's …
As far as climate change is concerned, the world is running out of time and options. We now know that the global atmospheric concentration of co2 has increased from a pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million (ppm) to 379 ppm in 2005. We also know that if this increase …
A Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a massive weather event consisting of deep convection coupled with atmospheric circulation, moving slowly eastward over the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Despite its enormous influence on many weather and climate systems worldwide, it has proven very difficult to simulate an MJO because of assumptions about …
Data from the satellite-based Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) show that the total atmospheric moisture content over oceans has increased by 0.41 kg/m2 per decade since 1988. Results from current climate models indicate that water vapor increases of this magnitude cannot be explained by climate noise alone. In a formal …
Atmospheric scientist V Ramanathan fromthe Scripps Research Institute, California, USA, says brown clouds heat up the lower atmosphere. He explains to Archita Bhatta how the media misinterpreted their findings What's the study about? It shows the atmospheric brown clouds (ABC) enhanced solar heating of the lower atmosphere by about 50 …
Climate models and satellite observations both indicate that the total amount of water in the atmosphere will increase at a rate of 7% per kelvin of surface warming. However, the climate models predict that global precipitation will increase at a much slower rate of 1 to 3% per kelvin. A …
a study claims the maximum temperature over the northwestern Himalayas is increasing at a much faster rate than the minimum temperature. Another study claims it is just the opposite for most of the northern hemisphere, where the minimum temperature is rising faster than the maximum temperature. Change in temperature affects …
The concept of an interannually varying Indian summer monsoon season is introduced here, considering that the duration of the primary driving of the Indian monsoon - the large-scale meridional gradient of the deep tropospheric heat source - may vary from one year to another. Onset (withdrawal) is defined as the …
Paul J Crutzen received the 1995 Chemistry Nobel prize for showing that nitrogen oxides react catalytically with ozone, thus accelerating the rate of reduction of the atmospheric ozone content. His findings have triggered off much research on biogeochemical cycles like the carbon and nitrogen cycle. But he tells Archita Bhatta …
Cannibalising offspring A study reveals that male fish are more likely to eat their offspring when they have been cuckolded during spawning. Moreover, the more males that are present during spawning, the more likely it is that a male will try to eat the eggs when they are laid. "The …
The conference of parties to the un climate convention in Nairobi went along predictable lines. In the 12 years of the convention, political rhetoric may not have changed much
