A new study that has been published in the journal Nature last week claims that the immense haze clouds over the Indian Ocean, is as much a culprit as Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) in causing atmospheric warming and the melting of Himalayan glaciers.
The research into this was conducted by Veerabhadran Ramanathan and his colleagues at
After analyzing the data on aerosol concentration, soot levels and solar radiation, collected by these airborne gadgets, the scientists reached the conclusion that the haze increased atmospheric heating by 50%. The cause of this pollution, the researchers believe, is the burning of wood and plant matter for cooking in
Till this report was published, scientists were of the opinion that brown clouds did not contribute to global warming because it was thought that they deflected sunlight and cooled the atmosphere. But the present findings contradict this because they reveal that the particles in the brown clouds absorb sunlight and thereby warming the atmosphere.
The scientists fear that increased warming from this source would result in the Himalayan glaciers melting entirely. Once that happens, the major rivers which are now fed by water from the glaciers as well might become totally rain dependent and would remain dry during non-monsoon seasons.
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