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Pollution in China is spreading Aerosols on its hills

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If the much talked about green house gas emissions is causing global warming, then, minute particles of pollution in air called Aerosols is its competitor.

A group of scientists and their leader Mr.Daniel Rosenfeld, professor of atmospheric sciences at the Jerusalem’s Institute of Earth Sciences, discovered this on Mount Hua, central China.

The group had wandered the high altitudes to study the effects of pollution in those areas. They compared their study of visibility with that of the visibility records of about 50 years. The studies revealed that aerosols are stopping the clouds from retaining their moisture content in high altitude areas.

The pollution, mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, will rob the hills from its usual rain and snow.

Aerosols absorb the moisture content in clouds, decreasing the water droplet size. This in turn will delay the formation of raindrops resulting clouds of shorter duration, which would not stay long enough to rain before drifting to lower areas.

The study revealed that it was this change, which had resulted the drop in rainfall of about 10 to 25 percent on the hills compared to low lying areas.

The findings have solved a mystery which connected aerosols and the failure of rains. Scientists have always linked air pollution for the cause of decrease in rainfall. The fact findings involving aerosols now acts as an evidence to what the scientists have been warning.

Rosenfeld says that the latest finding shows the increasing concern of the human activities and its direct effect on the global climate.

He also adds that the situation has gone beyond other facts like, the changes in global temperature and the rising of sea levels. Air pollution and polluting the clouds, might as well bring a change in the weather patterns which can also affect the water resources.

Although Governments across the world are concentrating to reduce the heavy greenhouse gas emissions, the finding by Rosenfeld also indicates how minute particles such as aerosols might affect the weather in a big way.

It is about time that we check the aerosols before it goes berserk.

Via: National Geographic News

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