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Science 10 March 2000:
Vol. 287. no. 5459, pp. 1763 - 1765
DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5459.1763
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Perspectives

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE:
How Pollution Suppresses Rain

Owen B. Toon

Atmospheric aerosols reflect sunlight towards space, cooling Earth, and partially counteracting the greenhouse effect. But, as Toon discusses in this Perspective, this is not the only way in which aerosols affect climate. Satellite data presented by Rosenfeld on page 1793 show substantially reduced precipitation downwind from the pollution source. The mechanisms by which pollution may suppress rain remain poorly understood, and different effects may occur depending on the type of pollution and the atmospheric conditions.

The author is at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. E-mail: btoon{at}lasp.colorado.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)