20th-Century Industrial Black Carbon Emissions Altered Arctic Climate Forcing

Black carbon (BC) from biomass and fossil fuel combustion alters chemical and physical properties of the atmosphere and snow albedo, yet little is known about its emission or deposition histories. Measurements of BC, vanillic acid, and non–sea-salt sulfur in ice cores indicate that sources and conce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: McConnell, Joseph R., Edwards, Ross, Kok, Gregory L., Flanner, Mark G., Zender, Charles S., Saltzman, Eric S., Banta, J. Ryan, Pasteris, Daniel R., Carter, Megan M., Kahl, Jonathan D. W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2007
Subjects:
Arctic
Greenland
albedo
black carbon
ice core
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1144856
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1144856
Description
Summary:Black carbon (BC) from biomass and fossil fuel combustion alters chemical and physical properties of the atmosphere and snow albedo, yet little is known about its emission or deposition histories. Measurements of BC, vanillic acid, and non–sea-salt sulfur in ice cores indicate that sources and concentrations of BC in Greenland precipitation varied greatly since 1788 as a result of boreal forest fires and industrial activities. Beginning about 1850, industrial emissions resulted in a sevenfold increase in ice-core BC concentrations, with most change occurring in winter. BC concentrations after about 1951 were lower but increasing. At its maximum from 1906 to 1910, estimated surface climate forcing in early summer from BC in Arctic snow was about 3 watts per square meter, which is eight times the typical preindustrial forcing value.

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