Researchers measure trends of soot in a glacier, identify emission sources in a climate model

Friday, May 8, 2015 - 07:00 in Earth & Climate

Soot from burning biomass and fossil fuels leaves a historical record frozen in snow and ice. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and collaborators designed a unique tracer tagging technique in a climate model to identify the particles' sources and the cause of their historical trends. Their results show that soot recorded in the southeastern Tibetan glacier, which has been increasing in recent decades, primarily originated in South Asia during non-monsoon months. This is consistent with a growing contribution from coal and biomass burning in South Asia. The results offer insights on the glacier-melting capacity of these particles and their impact on fresh water availability.

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