Brown Clouds Boost Global Warming

Aerosols over Asia incriminated in Himalayan glacial melting.

Daniel Cressey

Tiny particles of pollution may be causing as much warming as greenhouse gases over southern Asia. The clouds of aerosol particles are contributing to the potentially devastating melting of Himalayan glaciers, say researchers.

Using data from unmanned aircraft flying through 'brown clouds' of aerosol pollution over the Indian Ocean, US researchers found the zone of the atmosphere containing the clouds is warming by 0.25 ºC, compared with 0.10 ºC per decade at ground level.