Global sources, emissions, transport and deposition of dust and sand and their effects on the climate and environment: a review

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• 作者：Feng Wang ; Xueqiu Zhao…
• 关键词：Dust and sand storm ; Climate effects ; Radiative forcing ; Cloud condensation nuclei ; Precipitation ; Iron fertilizer
• 刊名：Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：11
• 期：1
• 全文大小：
• 刊物主题：Environment, general;
• 出版者：Higher Education Press
• ISSN：2095-221X
• 卷排序：11

文摘

Dust and Sand Storms (DSS) originating in deserts in arid and semi-arid regions are events raising global public concern. An important component of atmospheric aerosols, dust aerosols play a key role in climatic and environmental changes at the regional and the global scale. Deserts and semi-deserts are the main source of dust and sand, but regions that undergo vegetation deterioration and desertification due to climate change and human activities also contribute significantly to DSS. Dust aerosols are mainly composed of dust particles with an average diameter of 2 mm, which can be transported over thousands of kilometers. Dust aerosols influence the radiation budget of the earthatmosphere system by scattering solar short-wave radiation and absorbing surface long-wave radiation. They can also change albedo and rainfall patterns because they can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) or ice nuclei (IN). Dust deposition is an important source of both marine nutrients and contaminants. Dust aerosols that enter marine ecosystems after long-distance transport influence phytoplankton biomass in the oceans, and thus global climate by altering the amount of CO₂ absorbed by phytoplankton. In addition, the carbonates carried by dust aerosols are an important source of carbon for the alkaline carbon pool, which can buffer atmospheric acidity and increase the alkalinity of seawater. DSS have both positive and negative impacts on human society: they can exert adverse impacts on human’s living environment, but can also contribute to the mitigation of global warming and the reduction of atmospheric acidity.KeywordsDust and sand stormClimate effectsRadiative forcingCloud condensation nucleiPrecipitationIron fertilizerThese authors contributed equally to this work.