Study on carbonaceous aerosols over the Central Himalayas

Abstract

Tiny particles in the solid, liquid, or mixed phases and suspended in air are known as atmospheric aerosols (Junge, 1963). Despite being minor constituents of the atmosphere, these particles have a profound influence and play a variegated role on the air quality (Hansen et al., 2000), radiation budget (Jacobson, 2001; Lau et al., 2006), cloud properties (Ackerman et al., 2000), atmospheric chemistry (Jacobson, 2001), precipitation patterns (Rosenfeld et al., 2008) and health (Olson et al., 2015). Whilst greenhouse gasses remain the main culprits in global warming, particles in the atmosphere also play a multi-hued role in climate change. Quantifying the influence of aerosols on the climate remains an enigma and they are the greatest lingering sources of uncertainty even in the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which came recently in 2021 after more than 30 years from the advent of the first report in 1990.