These optical depths can be used in conjunction with
assumptions about aerosol radiative properties to calculate the direct forcing.
I don't mean it wasn't due to a combination of things — but to focus
thoughts about aerosols in the post-war boom, described nicely @ 26.
Therefore when you ask about the general effects of cloud feedbacks on climate, you have moved well beyond the scope of a
discussion about aerosol second indirect effects.
I take the
point about aerosols being cold spots too but lets not get too picky about the question I pose.
So whenever one
talks about aerosols, one needs to put a caveat noting that greenhouse gases also come from fossil fuels and are the dominant effect.
The study also noted that, consistent with Lindzen's claims
about the aerosol forcing uncertainty, there is «at least a fourfold uncertainty in the aerosol forcing effect.»
Using climate models and data
collected about aerosols and meteorology over the past 30 years, the researchers found that air pollution over Asia — much of it coming from China — is impacting global air circulations.
Tracking and gathering detailed source - specific
information about aerosols is important for regulatory decisions for cleaner air and water.
I'm not hearing
much about aerosol screening as a result of massive buildup of coal - fired power plants in China and India.
Based on what I have
read about aerosols, cloud behaviour and solar, in my opinion the real response to 2xCO2 may be at (or even below) the low - end scenario of the IPCC...
But I have to admit that I didn't digest yet all the
links about aerosols that David send to another list (UKweatherworld)...
Finally, there's the intimate connection between the global - warming cult and its patrons in collectivist politics, who view climate change as an indispensable opportunity to seize money and power — a claim in which politicians get to represent the Earth itself against the grubby little people they're not terribly fond of, even when they're not trying to promote a scary
story about aerosol deodorant, cow farts, air conditioners, and automobiles unleashing the apocalypse.
I am sure that one could be more systematic along the lines of the fingerprinting literature (but much of this literature assumes
more about the aerosol forcing time dependence than I would prefer).