Dutch satellite instrument SPEXone produces world map of particulate matter

Observation

A year of observation has now produced a three-part world map of aerosols. This shows the distribution of fine and coarse aerosols and of particles that reflect or absorb sunlight. The latter have a cooling and warming effect on the climate, respectively.

Aerosols

Aerosols are small particles like soot, ash and desert dust in the atmosphere, also called particulate matter. They have a net cooling effect on the climate, but to what extent is unclear. The range runs from 0.2 to as much as 0.9 degrees of a damping influence on global warming. Fine dust affects the climate both directly via reflection and absorption of sunlight, and indirectly by acting as a starting point for cloud formation. The lack of low-lying cloud cover, for example, is one of the causes of the record warm year 2024.