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.