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14/10/23 07:11 AM IST

Record spike in aerosol in Hindu Kush region: Study

In News
  • The increase in aerosols in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau region could be the reason behind increase in temperatures, altering rainfall patters and accelerating glacier retreat, a study by Isro’s Physical Research Laboratory has shown .
Major Findings
  • The study, the first of its kind, used ground-based observations, satellite data, and simulations, to assess aerosol characteristics and radiative forcing — the change in energy flux in the atmosphere caused by natural or anthropogenic factors of climate — in several locations in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), the Himalayan foothills and the Tibetan Plateau.
  • Data shows that the aerosol radiative forcing efficiency (ARFE) — which shows the effect of anthropogenic aerosols on the radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere — was significantly higher in the Himalayan foothills.
  • The mean ARFE is two to four times higher here than over other polluted sites in south and east Asia, owing to higher AOD (aerosol optical depth) and aerosol absorption.
  • Further, the observed annual mean aerosol-induced atmospheric heating rates (0.5–0.8 Kelvin/day), which are significantly higher than previously reported values for the region, imply that the aerosols alone could account for over 50% of the total warming, including aerosols and greenhouse gases, of the lower atmosphere and surface over this region
  • The significant, regionally coherent aerosol-induced warming that we observe in the high altitudes of the region, is a significant factor contributing to increasing air temperature, observed accelerated retreat of the glaciers, and changes in the hydrological cycle and precipitation patterns over this region.
  • The Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau region contains the largest ice mass outside Antarctic and Arctic polar regions, and has witnessed a pronounced retreat in glaciers, which also feed into most major rivers of Asia.
  • A 2019 report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) found that the Hindu Kush Himalayas are warming faster than the global average, and that the consequences of it in the region were severe.
  • That ICIMOD report highlighted that 1.5 degrees Celsius is “too hot” for the Hindu Kush Himalayas.
Aerosols
  • They are tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in air or as a gas.
  • Aerosols can be natural, such as fog or gas from volcanic eruptions, or artificial, such as smoke from burning fossil fuels.
  • Aerosol particles are either emitted directly to the atmosphere (primary aerosols) or produced in the atmosphere from precursor gases (secondary aerosols).
  • Aerosol particles are tiny, but numerous, and often comprise of a number of inorganic and organic substances.
  • True aerosol particles range in diameter from a few millimicrometres to about 1 micrometre (equal to 10-4 cm).
  • Particles with a diameter of less than 0.1 micrometre are sometimes referred to as Aitken nuclei.
Source- Hindustan Times

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