Sources Of Climate- And Health-afflicting Soot Pollution Over South Asia Identified
Friday, January 23, 2009 - 09:43
in Earth & Climate
A gigantic brownish haze from various burning and combustion processes is blanketing India and surrounding land and oceans during the winter season. This soot-laden Brown Cloud is affecting South Asian climate as much or more than carbon dioxide and cause premature deaths of 100 000s annually, yet its sources have been poorly understood. Now researchers have used a novel carbon-14 method to determine that two-thirds of the soot particles are from biomass combustion such as in household cooking and in slash-and-burn agriculture.