Not exact matches
Soot particles, also known as
black carbon aerosols, affect climate by absorbing sunlight, which warms the surrounding air and limits the
amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground.
«If our interpretation is correct, then reducing the
amount of
black carbon or
soot may help diminish the intensity of floods in the south and droughts in the northern areas of China, in addition to having human health benefits,» notes co-author James Hansen of the Goddard Institute.
There are enough health - damaging pollutants in the air today such that, if they (tropospheric ozone, its principal precursor methane,
black soot, and some other trace gases that contribute to the global warming) were reduced by feasible
amounts, the planet's energy balance could be restored, or nearly so.
This occurs because transportation in North America produces a substantial
amount of
black carbon (
soot) and ozone (a main ingredient in smog), both of which warm climate, while power generation leads to a large
amount of sulfate particles, which cool climate even as they also lead to acid rain and damage human health.
Reductions in some short - lived human - induced emissions that contribute to warming, such as
black carbon (
soot) and methane, could reduce some of the projected warming over the next couple of decades, because, unlike carbon dioxide, these gases and particles have relatively short atmospheric lifetimes.The
amount of warming projected beyond the next few decades is directly linked to the cumulative global emissions of heat - trapping gases and particles.
Looking at the journals of the first scientific Arctic explorer - Scoresby - he made comments about the
amount of
black soot lying on the ice / snow and melting it.
«Comparing the
amount of warming in the U.S. saved by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by some 80 % to the
amount of warming added in the U.S. by increases in Asian
black carbon (
soot) aerosol emissions (at least according to Teng et al.) and there is no clear winner.
It's a problem for the climate because the
black soot particles are just the right color to absorb heat from the sun, either in the upper atmosphere or when it settles back down to earth on Arctic snow and ice (when
soot - free, the polar ice caps reflect a tremendous
amount of light and heat back into Space, helping keep the planet cool).
More on the important role that
black carbon
soot plays in increasing global warming and what can be done about it: A new study published in Nature Geoscience found that the
amount of solar radiation absorbed increased as the ratio of
black carbon to sulphate rose.