aerosol-cloud-climate cooling schematic (IMAGE)
Caption
Clouds cool the climate system by reflecting incident sunlight. The reflection of sunlight and cooling is stronger in the presence of pollution particles. Pollution also affects the development of clouds: While increased pollution can deepen clouds by preventing them from being depleted by rain, the effect on non-raining clouds is uncertain. Glassmeier et al. (2021) show that -- in contrast to traditional thinking -- the evaporation of non-raining clouds in polluted environments can reduce the cooling.
Credit
Glassmeier et al
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