Research report 2007 - Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Influence of pollution on climate change – new insights from satellite data and climate models

Authors
Kinne, Stefan; Quaas, Johannes
Departments

Atmosphäre im Erdsystem (Stevens) (Prof. Dr. Bjorn Stevens)
MPI für Meteorologie, Hamburg

Wolken-Klima-Wechselwirkungen (Emmy-Noether-Programm) (Dr. Johannes Quaas)
MPI für Meteorologie, Hamburg

Summary
Particles suspended in the atmosphere, so-called aerosols, reflect sunlight and alter cloud properties. In the global mean anthropogenic pollution aerosol by these direct and indirect effects cools the climate. The studies presented here in which new comprehensive remote sensing data are used show that for the direct as well as for the indirect effect former estimates for the climate effect of anthropogenic aerosol have been exaggerated.

For the full text, see the German version.

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