Posted on 07/22/2011 10:51:38 AM PDT by Red Badger
A new study led by the U.S, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that tiny particles that make their way all the way up into the stratosphere may be offsetting a global rise in temperatures due to carbon emissions. And while scientists cannot yet say with any certainty where exactly the particles are coming from, they are saying that they have confidence that such particles have likely muted global temperature gains by as much as a third of what they would have been. They team, led by John Daniel, a physicist at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) in Boulder, CO, has published their results in Science.
The new research has focused on aerosols, the tiny solid or liquid particles that exist in the atmosphere that can affect global temperatures, such as when Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines, erupted in 1991 causing a worldwide average decrease in temperature of 1 degree Celsius for more than a year. The cooling is not the result of the ash, notes co-author Susan Soloman, but from the sulfur dioxide that is thrust all the way up into the stratosphere, where it oxidizes and adds to the sun reflecting properties of other already existing particles.
The team focused on the most recent decade because of the relative absence of massive volcanic eruptions , giving them a more clear environmental view of how much impact minor volcanic eruptions and human activities have on the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere and thus global temperatures. To find out what was going on, they used both ground based data and information from satellites such as Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (Calipso), to measure the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere and at what altitudes.
NOAA has released a statement outlining the results of the study, and in it Daniel, says, “stratospheric aerosol increased surprisingly rapidly in that time, almost doubling during the decade,” which forms the basis of the teams conclusions that such aerosols are responsible for the slowdown in increased temperatures that scientist around the world have been expecting due to greenhouse gas emissions.
The surprising aspect of the study is the large amount of aerosols found during a period when there weren’t any giant volcanoes going off, which leads researches to wonder if the aerosols are from the combined effects of multiple small eruptions, or human activity, such as the particles emitted from coal fired power plants, particularly in Asia, where such plants have multiplied in recent years. One thing the research is not able to tell us is what impact aerosols will likely have in the future, because of the uncertainty of their origin, which means there is no way to tell at this point if there will be more, or less of them, which means scientists can only guess if the temperature muting will continue to offset global warming from current and future carbon emissions.
More information: The Persistently Variable “Background” Stratospheric Aerosol Layer and Global Climate Change, Science DOI:10.1126/science.1206027
ABSTRACT Recent measurements demonstrate that the “background” stratospheric aerosol layer is persistently variable rather than constant, even in the absence of major volcanic eruptions. Several independent data sets show that stratospheric aerosols increased in abundance since 2000. Near-global satellite aerosol data imply a negative radiative forcing due to stratospheric aerosol changes over this period of about –0.1 W/m2, reducing the recent global warming that would otherwise have occurred. Observations from earlier periods are limited but suggest an additional negative radiative forcing of about –0.1 W/m2 from 1960 to 1990. Climate model projections neglecting these changes would continue to overestimate the radiative forcing and global warming in coming decades if these aerosols remain present at current values or increase.
Sources of aerosols reach the stratosphere from above and below, as shown in the graph. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbonyl sulfide (OCS), and dimethyl sulfide(DMS) are the dominant surface emissions which contribute to aerosol formation. (Credit: NOAA)
Lidar instruments - pointing up from the ground or down from satellites - use reflected light to measure the amounts of particles and their locations, which can influence climate. (Credit: CIRES/NOAA)
AGW BS ping!.............
So we can get our hairsprays out again??
Aerosols prevent golbal warming? Maybe i should start using hairspray again, except I don’t have much hair anymore.
Just spray it around in the air, pointed up to the sky, and tell your neighbors you are saving the planet....................
Does this mean I can stop using these crappy HFA inhalers and go back to ones powered by CFC?
Of COURSE particles in the atmosphere help keep global temeratures down.
But I wouldn’t expect these ‘scientists’ to have known that. After all, they haven’t even noticed the connection between the rise in global temperatures during the latter part of the 20th century and the halting of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing...
;-)
Of COURSE particles in the atmosphere help keep global temperatures down.
But I wouldn’t expect these ‘scientists’ to have known that. After all, they haven’t even noticed the connection between the rise in global temperatures during the latter part of the 20th century and the halting of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing...
;-)
...just threw out the second questionnaire NOAA sent me that wasn’t suppose to be personal..but asked to fill in my phone number just in case they had “questions”...?????, I passed.
Guess the EPA is gonna have to call back their new SO2 regs, eh?
Dirty Diesel was saving the planet!...............................
Start new coal fired power plants to save the planet!
It’s for the chilrun!!!
Incredible, all the crap floating around in the atmosphere.. how we survive as long as we do is a marvel in itself.
Could this simply be their “answer” to the failed and funny “global warming” BS? If this is the effort to save their grants and their butts - I am not buying into it. Maybe there are too many seagulls passing wind at over 40 feet, that seems a little more substantial.
just don’t leave the cans in direct sunlight.
LOL!! Aerosols?? I think it is the Keebler Elves helping us out. About as reasonable a claim as they’re making. I have no proof and neither do they—so my theory is just as valid.
pinging Algore
Looks like the warmists are looking for a “back door” to duck the embarrassment when everyone realizes they were totally wrong all this time (and grant $$$).
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