MONITORING air pollution just got simpler. A handy and low-cost instrument has been developed for researchers to measure and analyse soot level in the air. Soot, or black carbon, is the second biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. It is released in the air by incomplete combustion of …
HOW cloudy is it outside? Will it rain? The answers may depend on the level of atmospheric pollution in one’s region. Cloud-forming microscopic particles, called aerosols, absorb and reflect solar radiation. These particles have the ability to modify cloud formation and encourage or suppress precipitation. They can be released from …
CALL it a conspiracy between cloud and pollution. Stretches of clouds, impregnated with fine pollutants, or aerosols, reflect a large amount of sunlight over India back into space. This could be a major factor in the reduced radiation on the Indian soil, said researchers from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology …
Geoengineering has been proposed as a feasible way of mitigating anthropogenic climate change, especially increasing global temperatures in the 21st century. The two main geoengineering options are limiting incoming solar radiation, or modifying the carbon cycle. Here we examine the impact of five geoengineering approaches on sea level; SO2 aerosol …
RAIN comes from clouds. But where do clouds come from? Through the process of evaporation and transpiration, water vapour rises higher into the atmosphere, deposits on fine particles, such as dust, air pollution, pollen and bacteria, condenses and forms the cloud. These particles called aerosols act as a seed to …
We find evidence that black soot aerosols deposited on Tibetan glaciers have been a significant contributing factor to observed rapid glacier retreat. Reduced black soot emissions, in addition to reduced greenhouse gases, may be required to avoid demise of Himalayan glaciers and retain the benefits of glaciers for seasonal fresh …
