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Published Online July 13, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1126232

Reports

Submitted on February 14, 2006
Accepted on June 21, 2006

Smoke and Pollution Aerosol Effect on Cloud Cover

Yoram J. Kaufman 1 and Ilan Koren 2*

1 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 613.2, Greenbelt MD 20771 USA.
2 Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Ilan Koren , E-mail: ilan.koren{at}weizmann.ac.il

Pollution and smoke aerosols can increase or decrease the cloud cover. This duality in the aerosol effects forms one of the largest uncertainties in climate research. Using solar measurements from AERONET sites around the globe, we show an increase in the cloud cover with an increase in the aerosol column concentration and an inverse dependence on the aerosol absorption of sunlight. The emerging rule appears to be independent of the geographical location or aerosol type, thus increasing our confidence in the understanding of these aerosol effects on the clouds and climate. Preliminary estimates suggest an increase of 5% in cloud cover.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Smoke Invigoration Versus Inhibition of Clouds over the Amazon.
I. Koren, J. V. Martins, L. A. Remer, and H. Afargan (2008)
Science 321, 946-949
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)