Aerosols and Climate Change

                 Aerosols can have a profound impact on climate change. Before diving into the details, aerosols and climate change need to be properly defined; climate change demonstrates the changes of normal weather patterns over a period of time while aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air that come from both natural and man-made sources (NASA 1). Both of these terms can be connected when it comes to discussing Earth’s climate and how it is changing.

                Aerosols come from many different sources, both natural and man-made. Some sources of natural aerosols include sea spray from bodies of water, living vegetation, dust storms, forest and grassland fires and volcanoes (NASA 1). These aerosols are formed by the natural occurences of Earth’s activity. However, some aerosols are created by human activity through the alteration of natural surface cover and the burning of fossil fuels (NASA 1).

                When discussing climate change, aerosols are important to mention due to the fact that they can help to cool the Earth down, according to NASA (NASA 2). This is because the aerosols have a certain amount of albedo that reflect solar radiation from hitting Earth’s surface, therefore, keeping it from heating up (NASA 2). An easier way to look at it is thinking of a cloud. Aerosols play a crucial part in cloud formation; without them, there would be no clouds (NASA 2). The more aerosols that are in a cloud, the more time it takes for the cloud to clear up (NASA 2-3). As a result, the drop in temperature from the lack of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface brings climate change into the discussion.

                Evidence can also be found in the fact of the sea level rising (NCDC 2). According to the National Climatic Data Center, “the global mean sea level has been rising at an average rate of approximately 1.7 mm/ year over the past 100 years (measured from tide gauge observations)…”. The center also states that this rate is noticingly larger than the average rate several thousand years ago (NCDC 2). Perhaps because of the increased cloud coverage there is more rain, which goes into the oceans and fills them up more, causing higher sea levels.

                NASA claims that there is not enough information to make any substantial claims about the effects of aerosols on a global scale. Further research will need to be performed in order to find a more general and accurate answer the question of how much and where the aerosols are effecting Earth’s climate change the most.