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| Pollution
in India may affect climate |
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Computer
models show that air pollution in India could be
having significant effects on the climate there.
Simulations by researchers at the National Center
for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., show
that sulfate aerosols over India are preventing
up to 15 percent of the sun's light from reaching
the ground in the springtime. |
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| The aerosols, which
form from industrial emissions and exhaust from high-
sulfur coal fires, scatter sunlight more strongly in the
winter, says William Collins, a researcher at the center. |
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| The 15 percent reduction
in sunlight is more than twice that typically caused by
clouds and could cause temperature drops over the Indian
subcontinent of up to 2°C, says Collins. Although the
pollution has a cooling effect at ground level, it warms
the atmosphere at heights where the aerosols absorb or
scatter solar radiation. This high-altitude warming tends
to reduce cloud cover, somewhat counteracting the reduction
in sunlight reaching the surface. Incorporating such localized
effects into global climate models could lead to improved
long-range predictions, Collins notes. |
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