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Aerosols and Climate Change

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From the Earth's Core to Outer Space

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences ((LNESS,volume 137))

Abstract

Climate change is probably the most crucial human-driven environmental problem: the humankind has changed the global radiative balance by changing the atmospheric composition. However, we do not know exactly how rapidly and in which way the global climate is changing. We know even less about what will happen to regional climate in the future. Aerosol particles and clouds can cool the climate, and therefore they counter the warming effect of greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, the effect of aerosols and clouds on radiative balance is currently uncertain, although – in recent years – scientific efforts have been able to improve our understanding.

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Correspondence to Markku Kulmala .

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Kulmala, M., Riipinen, I., Kerminen, VM. (2012). Aerosols and Climate Change. In: Haapala, I. (eds) From the Earth's Core to Outer Space. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, vol 137. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25550-2_15

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