Nano Patents and Innovations: Climate Change From Black Carbon Depends On Altitude

The team's research involved idealized simulations of adding a theoretical megatonne of black carbon uniformly around the globe at different altitudes in the atmosphere. They found that the addition of black carbon near the land and ocean surface caused the surface to heat. As the altitude of black carbon increased, surface warming decreased. The addition of black carbon to the stratosphere caused the land and oceans to cool. This cooling occurred despite the fact that the black carbon caused the Earth as a whole to absorb more energy from the sun. When black carbon is high in the atmosphere, it can lose its energy to space while helping to shade the land and ocean surface.

Power Shift 2011: Watch Live | Power Shift 2011

Check back Friday, April 15 at 7pm for a livestream of our opening keynote session featuring Al Gore and Van Jones.