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You've heard about Global Warming...
Now it's also about Global Dimming.
Global warming, as most of us know, is the heating of the earth due to a "green house effect," which traps heat on earth and is causing global climate changes. It's known that pollutants in the air from various sources, including factories, automobiles, and airplanes all contribute to global warming, but what many people do not realize - global warming is likely worse than we are experiencing currently, because the same elements that are causing global warming is also fighting the effects of the warming - and this is called Global Dimming.
When exhaust and pollution is released into the air, tiny particles of the pollution travel into the clouds (this is air pollution.) What happens then is interesting - while it may be having adverse affects on the ozone layer (burning up the protective ozone layer completely), what happens with the pollutants in the clouds is actually making us not realize how quickly the climate of the planet is changing. Usually, inside a cloud, there is natural occuring dust and a small level of various particles. Water vapor in the clouds attach to these particles, and when they get heavy enough, they fall to the ground as rain. However, the particles of pollution in the clouds gather tiny water vapors (very small rain droplets), and since there are many more particles in the clouds than usual, the sun is actually being blocked by the sheer amount of shiney pollution particles with water attached - they form a large mirror over the planet wherever the clouds are. In this scenario, since the clouds are reflecting the sunlight back into space - and keeping the earth cooler, since the sunlight never reaches earth. But the same pollution still depletes the ozone layer, so humanity is actually killing the earth, and not being fully aware of their actions!
Over the years, Europe has seen a decrease in global dimming - that is, the amount of sunlight reaching Europe is more intense than other areas of the world, the United States for example. This seems to be directly related to the more stringent air pollution standards that Europe requires that other countries do not. It is a catch-22, though. If we decrease global dimming, will we speed global warming? If we keep global dimming and global warming at the current levels, does the air pollution, while toxic to many living organisms, serve a dual purpose - to block the sun rays that are entering through holes in the ozone that humanity has created? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. As caretakers of the world, humankind has a duty to keep care of the planet. It's only a matter of time before we find out if we were up for the challenge, or we failed. Failure means the end of life as we know it.
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After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the United States grounded all airplanes in the country. There was an immediate change to the earth - it was lighter and brighter! The jet trails (shown to the right) are a major contributor to the particulate matter in the air, as they collect directly into the clouds with the water vapor and immediately begin blocking out the sun.