Climate Change - Aerosols in the troposphere

aerosols are tiny liquid and solid particles

They enter the troposphere by:

  • factory and auto emissions
  • agricultural burning / wild fires
  • ocean - phytoplankton produce dimethylsulphide (DMS) - DMS forms SO2 in atmosphere which in turn produces sulfate aerosols
  • Aerosol concentrations are increasing with time.

Tropospheric aerosol effect on climate:

  • reflects and absorbs incoming solar radiation - cooling affect at surface, can lead to warming in troposphere.
  • absorbs LW radiation - warming effect (especially the black sooty aerosols emitted through fossil fuel and biomass burning)
  • The net effect of tropospheric aerosols is cooling.