How Does Anthropogenic Haze Influence Climate?

Greenhouse gases act broadly to warm the atmosphere, but human-induced aerosols (particles in the atmosphere) generate negative forcings—that is cooling of the atmosphere by reflection of the sun’s energy away from Earth. This photograph from the Space Shuttle, featured in an article in Science magazine, shows haze from China spread over the Pacific Ocean, on March 4, 1996. In the Science article, Anderson and coworkers point out that greenhouse gas forcing on climate is fairly well understood, but the effect of aerosols is not.

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NASA photograph STS075-773-66, was taken March 4, 1996, 01:29:47 GMT, center point 28°N 123°E, craft nadir 28°N 128.1°W, from an altitude of 278 km, with a Hasselblad film camera and 40 mm lens. The image was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Published May 25, 2003
Data acquired March 4, 1996

Source:

Space Shuttle > Medium Format Camera

Collection:

Astronaut Photography