Aerosols
Aerosols are little particles that hang around in our atmosphere. They are not gases. They are usually solids but some are found in liquid form. Since they are small and lights, they will usually hang around in the sky for a few hours, but there are some that can hang around the sky for years.
Aerosols can range from sizes around 10 nanometers to 100 microns in diameter. To give you a visualisation, the smallest ones are around the width of a human hair. A raindrop is about 2 millimeters (2000 microns) in diameter and a typical cloud droplet is about 20 microns across.
Aerosols can range from sizes around 10 nanometers to 100 microns in diameter. To give you a visualisation, the smallest ones are around the width of a human hair. A raindrop is about 2 millimeters (2000 microns) in diameter and a typical cloud droplet is about 20 microns across.
The many different aerosols
The main and most important contributors (aerosols) to Global dimming are from dust that are blown from deserts or eroded from the ground, soot from fires that burn forests and also volcanic ash from volcanic eruptions. These influence the atmospheric conditions of the Earth greatly.
Other than these contributors, human made aerosols (Anthropogenic aerosols) contribute up to 10% of the aerosols up in the atmosphere. The main form is soot, which is also known as black carbon. These are created in internal combustion engines in cars, trucks and even aeroplanes! Added on to that, human action often leads to deforestation which eventually causes desertification. And this can cause the ground to erode more. The dust gathered up from the wind is another form of aerosols.
Finally, there are the pollutant gases, which are emitted by industrial creation of energy. If you think about it, there is not a process of creating energy without harming the surroundings. The pollutant gases are sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.
Other than these contributors, human made aerosols (Anthropogenic aerosols) contribute up to 10% of the aerosols up in the atmosphere. The main form is soot, which is also known as black carbon. These are created in internal combustion engines in cars, trucks and even aeroplanes! Added on to that, human action often leads to deforestation which eventually causes desertification. And this can cause the ground to erode more. The dust gathered up from the wind is another form of aerosols.
Finally, there are the pollutant gases, which are emitted by industrial creation of energy. If you think about it, there is not a process of creating energy without harming the surroundings. The pollutant gases are sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.
What does aerosols have to do with global dimming?
Aerosols can change the structure of the clouds, because the particles of aerosols are much bigger. This makes the cloud in a structure that allows more of the suns rays to reflect more sunlight off it. Thus creating the effect of global warming. The sunlight that reflects off goes back to space. The area beneath the clouds become much colder and had less sunlight