Approaches for modeling dust size matters in how it affects the climate
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 07:00
in Earth & Climate
Putting a climate model through some dusty drills, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found how well it depicts the climate effects of particle size. Comparing three techniques to represent the particles' size distribution, they found a large difference among them—by a factor of 10—in the amount of cooling that dust provides at the top of the atmosphere. They also found large differences in the impact of dust size on the surface cooling and atmospheric warming. Their study, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, drives further examination of how desert-born particles impact climate, air quality and the ecosystem.