Atmospheric Aerosol

:: Section 8

Global Effects of Atmospheric Aerosol

The atmospheric aerosol has significant influences on two important global atmospheric processes: global cooling and ozone depletion.

I. Global Cooling

Global cooling results from the scattering of incoming solar radiations back into space and an increase in cloud reflectivity. The increased reflectivity is because of a higher number concentration of cloud droplets due to an increased concentration of tropospheric condensation nuclei. Both mechanisms modify the earth radiation balance so as to cool the earth’s surface. This is called “whitehouse” effect, as an analogue to the greenhouse effect.