Albedo reduction by absorbing aerosols over China

Abstract

Long-term observations with satellites show that absorbing aerosols have reduced the local planetary albedo (LPA) over China during the recent decade. While the reduction of air pollution was leading to an LPA decrease in Europe, an increase of pollution in China also lowered the LPA. The strong absorption in clouds is accompanied by a cloud lifetime effect over the Red Basin and surrounding areas in southern China. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.