01/23/2006

Nature Article Cites Evidence That Aerosols Help Arctic Clouds Heat Up the Earth’s Surface

Summary

In the January 26 issue of Nature magazine, scientists supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program found that enhanced aerosol concentrations increase the amount of thermal energy emitted by Arctic clouds to the surface, which would augment surface warming caused by greenhouse gases. This indirect effect of aerosols on the energy balance was found to be comparable to the surface warming effect from greenhouse gases, suggesting that it is significant to the Arctic energy balance.

References

Lubin, D., and A.M. Vogelmann. 2006. “A climatologically significant aerosol longwave indirect effect in the Arctic”, Nature, DOI:10.1038/nature04449.