Atmospheric physicists now recognise a new and far more complex player in the climate game - aerosol particles.
Aerosols are small particles or droplets in the atmosphere, with sizes on the order of a micrometre.
Atmospheric Aerosols Aerosol particles are a largely natural, though highly variable, component of our atmosphere. They may be created by wind blowing over dusty regions, by evaporation of sea spray, and by the conversion into tiny particles of some of the gases emitted by plants. However, it is the emission of sulphur dioxide from the burning of coal which has aroused most recent concern. While some of this ends up as acid rain, itself a major environmental problem, a large fraction is converted into sulphate aerosols. Aerosols only remain in the atmosphere for a few days, and so don't have time to travel very far.