Chinese Scientists Report Black Carbon Research on PNAS

Location of the five ice core drilling sites for black carbon study on the Tibetan Plateau (Picture provided by ITP)

In collaboration with colleagues from the Institute of Earth Environment and Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute in the CAS and those from the NASA, Prof. XU analyzed black soot composition in ice cores retrieved from a wide range over the Plateau. The research team thereupon revealed the temporal and spatial variation patterns of black carbon in snow and ice on the Tibetan Plateau since the 1950s, thus suggesting the accelerated glacial melting on the Tibetan Plateau due to black soot deposition.

With the increasing concern in the influence of aerosols emission on climate and environment worldwide, their study made a successful stab at the understanding of black carbon composite in the tropical Himalayas. Their discovery confirmed the role of black carbon in the atmospheric brown cloud in heating the high-altitudes atmosphere, calling on people s attention to the accelerated glacial melting on the Tibetan Plateau.

Paper abstract:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/12/07/0910444106.abstract

Related:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214173658.htm