Black carbon
hideBlack carbon or BC is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel, and biomass, and is emitted in both anthropogenic and naturally occurring soot. Black carbon warms the planet by absorbing heat in the atmosphere and by reducing albedo, the ability to reflect sunlight, when deposited on snow and ice. Black carbon stays in the atmosphere for only several days to weeks, whereas CO2 has an atmospheric lifetime of more than 100 years.
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News tagged with black carbon
Aircraft emissions could influence climate change through cloud formation
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Aircraft emissions can affect the properties of cirrus clouds, contributing to climate change. This was a key finding from PNNL scientist Dr. Xiaohong Liu and his colleagues from a recent ...
Black carbon is not chemically inert as previously thought
Aug 31, 2009 |
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A paper by two University of Delaware researchers was recently highlighted on the web site of Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T), which publishes papers in advance of their appearance in the print version of the jo ...
Cleaning Up Black Carbon Provides Instant Benefits Against Global Warming
Aug 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The world could buy time to forestall disastrous environmental and geopolitical climate change effects by using existing technologies to curb emissions created through diesel and solid biomass ...
Improved air quality during Beijing Olympics could inform pollution-curbing policies
Jul 24, 2009 |
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The air in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics was cleaner than the previous year's, due to aggressive efforts by the Chinese government to curtail traffic, increase emissions standards and halt construction in preparation for ...
Sulfate lens enhances climate warming properties of atmospheric soot
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 29, 2009 |
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Particulate pollution thought to be holding climate change in check by reflecting sunlight instead enhances warming when combined with airborne soot, a new study has found.
The mystery of particles
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 19, 2009 |
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Particles cool down the climate, but to which extent? This has remained an unanswered question for scientists. A new article in Science by Gunnar Myhre at CICERO, Norway, brings the scientific community a step closer to sol ...
Spring agricultural fires have large impact on melting Arctic
May 26, 2009 |
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Scientists from around the world will convene at the University of New Hampshire June 2-5, 2009, to discuss key findings from the most ambitious effort ever undertaken to measure "short-lived" airborne pollutants in the Arctic ...
Fire influences global warming more than previously thought
Apr 23, 2009 |
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Fire's potent and pervasive effects on ecosystems and on many Earth processes, including climate change, have been underestimated, according to a new report.
Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Though greenhouse gases are invariably at the center of discussions about global climate change, new NASA research suggests that much of the atmospheric warming observed in the Arctic since ...
New aerosol observing technique turns gray skies to blue (w/Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny, ubiquitous particles in the atmosphere may play a profound role in regulating global climate. But the scientists who study these particles -- called aerosols -- have long struggled to ...
Global warming predictions are overestimated, suggests study on black carbon
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (55) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A detailed analysis of black carbon -- the residue of burned organic matter -- in computer climate models suggests that those models may be overestimating global warming predictions.
Air pollution can hinder heart's electrical functioning
Sep 08, 2008 |
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Microscopic particles in polluted air can adversely affect the heart's ability to conduct electrical signals in people with serious coronary artery disease, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart ...
