(ORDO NEWS) — Black carbon emissions from the South Asian region lead to a reduction in the area of glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau.
Black carbon is solid soot, a product of the incomplete combustion of fuel in an engine, as well as any other biomass.
It has an extremely low reflectivity and absorbs sunlight, due to which the black carbon that accumulates on the glaciers accelerates their melting.
At the same time, South Asia is one of the largest sources of black carbon in the world due to coal burning and low environmental standards.
The authors of the new work found that in the 21st century, black carbon aerosols affected the circulation of water vapor in the region and thereby additionally affected the Tibetan glaciers.
“Black carbon aerosols in South Asia heat the middle and upper atmosphere, thereby increasing the north-south temperature gradient,” the scientists say.
These changes in meteorological conditions, caused by black carbon aerosols, are causing more water vapor to fall as precipitation in South Asia.
As a result, the amount of precipitation in the Tibetan Plateau decreases, including during the rainy season, especially in the southern part.
In total, from 2007 to 2016, the glacier lost 11% of precipitation, the southern part of the plateau – 22%
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