A Twist on Global Warming

A study published in the June 5, 1992, issue of

Science by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona suggests that smoke emitted into the atmosphere from human activities may be having a significant effect in counteracting global warming. The study estimates that smoke from the burning of forests and grasslands for agriculture and settlement in typical countries is comparable in quantity and effect to the sulfates released into the atmosphere from industrial emissions. Both of these pollutants have the effects of reflecting solar radiation back into space, absorbing radiation so it doesn’t reach the earth, and changing cloud chemistries so that they also become more reflective. All three of these processes reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth, counteracting the effects of greenhouse gases toward global warming.