Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Dimming the Sun
Global dimming is the idea that the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth. The idea is that the by-products of fossils fuels, which are tiny particles suspend in the air, gather water moisture from the air. This moisture forms into bright clouds, which then gather up solar energy and reflect it back into space. What they found was that aerosols do in fact create a dimming effect on the atmosphere. They found that with more aerosols in the atmosphere, there are more clouds created, and those clouds are brighter. The brighter clouds reflect more solar radiation back into space. This research confirmed the hypothesis of global dimming, and allowed the scientists to get more precise measurements to describe the effect.
The phenomenon of global dimming was first recognized in the 1950s. While initial theories focused on the sun itself, scientist came to realize that this was not an explanatory factor, and that something human-caused must be. The initial research focused on temperature readings, and on readings related to the amount of radiation that reaches the earth. These found that there was a decreasing amount of radiation reaching the earth. The amount of the decrease varies from one part of the world to another, but the overall consistency of the pattern indicated that there was a global dimming effect. Further research was able to determine the cause of the dimming, which is the airborne particulates.
The INDOEX field experiment sought to determine the causes of global dimming. This -- the Indian Ocean Experiment -- was conducted in the Maldives in 1999. Researchers pumped aerosols into the atmosphere to test their effects, in a quasi-controlled experiment. INDOEX used measures on aircraft, watercraft and on
...
Global dimming means more clouds, and more storms. Essentially, the aerosols in the atmosphere provide nuclei around which water vapor gathers. This is how clouds are formed. So global dimming means that there will be more clouds in the atmosphere. These clouds are brighter as well, and that is why the reflect more radiation back into space. So the basic weather pattern associated with global dimming is a higher degree of cloud cover. The cloud cover is also brighter. The result then is less radiation reaching the surface of the earth.
For climate change, the implication of global dimming is negative. Basically, global dimming has been occurring as the result of fossil fuel burning, and thus it acts as a drag on global warming. The implications of this are viewed as quite alarming, because it means that without dimming, the climate would already have warmed to a significant degree -- more than it already has. The global warming effect is essentially competing with the dimming effect, and the warming effect is stronger. So at this point, with the warming effect increasing in intensity, if the dimming effect were to hold steady, this would mean…
Global Warming Argument FACT OR FALLACY Critical Thinking World Health Organization (2013) reports that, in the last century, the earth's warmth increased by approximately 0.75 degrees C. And further at more than 0.18 degrees every decade in the last 25 years. This phenomenon, called global warming, is said to result from the greenhouse effect whereby deleterious gases, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat within the earth's atmosphere instead of getting released. A steady
Global Warming: Fact Rather Than Fiction The focus of this paper is on global warming and its causes. In the introduction phase, we have given a brief overview of the problem alongside a brief look at the details of the problem itself. It is mentioned here that how much change has actually recorded in the previous decades and what the future might hold on for the planet if the trend keeps
Weather Evidence Supporting & Opposing Global Climate Change Global climate change persists a hot point of contention on an international scale. This subject went from ridicule, mockery, and doubt to massive grassroots and nonprofit movements, heated debates, and media headlines. Though there exists scientific research that dates back into the mid 20th century regarding impending climate change, the subject was not take seriously by massive audiences until the 21st century. At first
The IRC allowed thousands of people in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas Australia join together at a moment's notice in a cross-cultural communication. It has enabled a global subculture to be built from artificial but stable identities, quick wit, and the use of words to construct an imagined shared conservational context. The thousands of people tuned who are on IRC at any one time are divided into hundreds of
Metallica "Blackened" At first glance, a heavy metal band like Metallica may not be an obvious candidate to be promoting good-for-you, good-for-the-earth causes like reducing pollution and saving the Earth from destruction at the hands of lazy humans. And yet, hidden deep within the rock guitar and tough-guy exterior of the band lies a group of artists who are passionate about how humankind treats the Earth. Like many other musicians, the
Green BuildingExecutive OverviewGreen building is an excellent strategy by which the necessity for applying sustainability and lasting development in the construction business could be dealt with. This report is an evaluation of the green building - The Commons. The Commons is a multiple-residential condominium building situated in Brunswick, Melbourne (approximately 7km from the CBD). The venture was created by a local designer, Jeremy McLeod of Breathe Architecture. This particular case