l New research from NASA scientists suggests emissions of black soot alter the way sunlight reflects off snow.According to a computer simulation,black soot may be responsible for 25 percent of observed global warming over the past century.
2 Soot in the higher latitudes of the Earth。where ice is more common,absorbs more of the sun’s energy and warmth than an icy, white background.Dark-colored black carbon,or soot,absorbs sunlight,while lighter colored ice reflects sunlight.
3 Soot in areas with snow and ice may play all important role in climate change.Als0,if snow and ice covered areas begin melting。the warming effect increases,as the soot becomes more concentrated on the snow surface.“This provides a positive feedback,as glaciers and ice sheet smelt,they tend to get even dirtier,” said Dr.James Hansen,a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies,NewYork.
6 Hansen cautioned.although the role of soot in altering global climate is substantial,it does not alter the fact that greenhouse gases are the primary cause of climate warming during the past century.Such gases are expected to be the largest climate forcing f10r也e rest of this century.