AEROSOL LEVELS AT 20-YEAR

LOW IN NORTH INDIA

BENEFITS FOR HUMAN HEALTH

BY ANIRUDH
23-4-20
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 Aerosols
• Aerosols are tiny particles in the air that can be produced when we
burn different types of fossil fuels — coal, petroleum, wood and biofuels
— in different ways.
• They are suspended in the air.
• They reduce visibility.

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Sea salt, dust, and volcanic ash are three
common types of aerosols

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 Natural Sources-90%
• Desert dust, volatile organic compounds from vegetation, smoke
from forest fires, and volcanic ash are natural sources of aerosols.

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 Anthropogenic Sources-10%
• Fossil fuel combustion produces large amounts of sulfur dioxide,
which reacts with water vapor and other gases in the atmosphere to
create sulfate aerosols.
• Biomass burning, a common method of clearing land and consuming
farm waste, yields smoke that’s comprised mainly of organic carbon and
black carbon.

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 Is there a link between aerosols and climate
change?
• Yes. Aerosols have a profound impact on the climate because, just like
greenhouse gases.
• Most aerosols have cooling effect
• There is only one aerosol — soot, also known as black carbon —
that contribute to global warming.

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 Aerosols: Tiny Particles, Big Impact
• They also have very big, detrimental impacts on human health, and
have been implicated in health problems such as lung damage.
• Aerosols also affect other parts of the climate system like rainfall
— reducing rain in areas like India and China where it is
desperately needed for food production.

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 Data by the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite

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 Data by the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite

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Colors in map show Aerosol Optical Depth

Higher is the value of aerosols in air –

higher is the value of aerosol optical depth
 Aerosol Optical Depth

• AOD > 1 Very Hazy Conditions

• AOD < 0.1 Clear Atmosphere

AOD in 2020 was an ‘anomaly’ in North India
March 25
• AOD 0.3

April 1
• AOD 0.2

April 5
• AOD 0.1
 Positives Associated
• Better Visibility
 Positives Associated
Better health – decreased risk of
• Heart diseases
• Stroke
• Lung disease
• Asthma
STAY TUNED…

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