GEOG 311-3-3 Environmental Management

Over the last decade, a growing body of evidence indicates that soot and smoke from incomplete combustion are major contributors to climate change. Black carbon, a soot component, is a potent climate driver that absorbs sunlight in the atmosphere, changes rainfall patterns, and when deposited on snow and ice, accelerates melting. In addition, soot
can cause direct effects on health and agriculture. Climate and other effects of soot are magnified in broad regions where the strongest source emissions occur, but transported soot is also a major concern in the Arctic. The short atmospheric lifetime of soot particles also means that emissions reductions produce nearly immediate results, in contrast to most greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Black Carbon (BC) contributes to global warming in two ways. First, dark BC heats the air by absorbing radiation from sunlight. Second, cloud droplets form around BC particles, which increases the level and degree of cloud formation and disturbs the thermal gradient. 10 When the clouds become darker, they are less able to reflect sunlight, which makes the earth's surface warmer.

Black carbon (BC) is a short-lived, small aerosol (or airborne) particle linked to both climate warming and adverse health effects.
Black carbon emissions have recently become a focus of attention due to their effects on the near-term warming of the atmossphere and on human health. Reducing black carbon emissions is of particular interest in polar regions, such as the Arctic, which are especially sensitive to the effects of black carbon.

Black carbon (BC) has emerged as an important short-lived climate forcer. Due to its light absorption properties, BC can darken the snow/ice surface, affect the energy balance, and further lead to acceleration of the melting of the cryosphere (e.g., glaciers, snow cover, and sea ice).

Air pollution, both outdoors and indoors, causes millions of premature deaths each year. The deaths are mainly caused by the inhalation of particulate matter. Black carbon, a component of particulate matter, is especially dangerous to human health because of its tiny size. But black carbon not only has impacts on human health, it also affects visibility, harms ecosystems, reduces agricultural productivity and exacerbates global warming.