Atmospheric black carbon and its effects on cryosphere

摘要

Black carbon (BC) is formed from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels (e.g. coal and diesel oil), biofuel and biomass (like wildfires). As the most strongly light-absorbing component of atmospheric aerosols, BC could heat the atmosphere efficiently (i.e. the direct radiative forcing). Atmospheric BC also interacts with clouds to change cloud cover,lifetime, and brightness. Recently, the impact of BC on the cryosphere received increasing attention, because it could result in the significant glacier/snow cover melt through both the atmospheric warming and also the albedo reduction after its deposition on surface of snow/ice. Therefore, the importanceof BC as the major forcing in the climate system has been highlighted in the Fifth Assessment Report of IPCC.However, substantial uncertainty regarding its spatial-temporal distribution and climate effect still remains.