Influence of Aerosols
It has been hypothesized that increasing the amounts of particulates in the atmosphere through human activities may lead to a suppression of drizzle. According to this hypothesis, because drizzle can be an effective means of removing moisture from a cloud, its suppression could help to increase the thickness, coverage, and longevity of marine stratocumulus clouds. This would lead to increased cloud albedo on the regional to global scale, and a cooling of the planet. Estimates using complex global climate models suggest that this effect may be partially masking the effects of greenhouse gas increases on the global surface temperature. However, it is not clear that the representation of the chemical and physical processes needed to accurately simulate the interaction between aerosols, clouds, and drizzle in our current climate models is sufficient to fully understand the global impacts of changes in particulates.
Read more about this topic: Drizzle
Famous quotes containing the words influence of and/or influence:
“Under the influence of fear, which always leads men to take a pessimistic view of things, they magnified their enemies’ resources, and minimized their own.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)
“Modern Western thought will pass into history and be incorporated in it, will have its influence and its place, just as our body will pass into the composition of grass, of sheep, of cutlets, and of men. We do not like that kind of immortality, but what is to be done about it?”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)