The amount of dust in the Earth's atmosphere has doubled over the last century, and the increase influences global climate and ecology, U.S. researchers say.
The study, led by Natalie Mahowald, professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University, used available data and computer modeling to estimate the amount of desert dust, or soil particles, in the atmosphere during the 20th century, ScienceDaily.com reported Thursday.
Desert dust and climate influence each other, researchers say.
Dust limits the amount of solar radiation that reaches the Earth, masking the warming effects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
It also can have an effect on clouds and precipitation, leading to droughts, which in turn leads to more dust.
Ocean chemistry is also involved, as dust is a major source of iron, vital for plankton and other organisms that draw carbon out of the atmosphere.
The study is the first to trace the fluctuation of a natural, not human-caused, aerosol in the atmosphere around the world over the course of a century.
"Now we finally have some information on how the desert dust is fluctuating. This has a really big impact for the understanding of climate sensitivity," Mahowald said.
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