Think About The Earth

Yes, Aerosol Is Cool, But . . . (1 of 2) August 20, 2009

Must be that when we encounter the word aerosol, we only think those stuff that usually come in spray bottles and are sealed under high pressure.  We.., that is just partly correct.  In general, aerosols are miniscule articles that may be solid or gas suspended in the atmosphere.

There are two types of aerosol:  natural and anthropogenic.  Natural aerosols, like sulfates and hydrogen chloride, originate from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray.  They are generally considered to have no harmful effect on living organisms.

Anthropogenic aerosols, on the other hand, are man-made and formed usually from the burning of fossil fuels and the slash-and-burn agricultural activities.  Sulfur dioxide and soot are anthropogenic.

‘Cool’ Thing about Aerosols

With the current fear on the catastrophic consequences tht unabated global warming may bring, natural aerosols seem a breath of fresh air.  Studies prove that aerosols reduce the heat trapped on the earth’s surface by scattering and/or reflecting solar radiation back into space.

Climatologists are even saying that accumulated aerosols contribute a lot to the cooling effect experienced on the earth, and that our temperature would have been 75 percent higher than the present on without the aerosols.  Aerosols may also act as cloud condensation nuclei that lead to cloud formation that, in turn, results to rains, preventing widespread drought.

But It Isn’t the Solution

Aerosols may keep the earth cool, but it definitely cannot prevent accelerated global warming.  As long as human activities continue to be largely dependent on the burning of fossil fuels, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will continue to increase.