How do the various types of clouds affect the atmosphere below them in a polluted environment?

Asked by: Christian Williams

How does air pollution affect the clouds?

In moderate concentrations, they add more particles to the atmosphere for water to condense onto, enabling clouds to grow taller. If pollution is very heavy, however, the sheer number of particles in the sky blocks incoming sunlight — an effect often visible in the world’s most polluted cities.

How do clouds affect the environment?

During the day, clouds reflect a portion of the solar energy that reaches Earth back into space. This prevents the planet from becoming too warm. Clouds can also act like a blanket, trapping heat on Earth by absorbing the heat released by the surface of the planet.

What causes clouds pollution?

Since the Industrial Revolution, black carbon and soot from cars, factories and cookstoves constitute most of the cloud-forming aerosols. Aerosols are key in whipping up a cloud, a process that begins with the sun. As the sun’s rays hit the ocean, water evaporates into the gas phase.

Does pollution create more clouds?

The researchers discovered that high levels of smoke in the atmosphere hinder deep convective cloud development, but pollution helps the clouds form, provided there are only moderate pollution levels in the atmosphere.

What are pollution clouds called?

atmospheric brown cloud, a layer of air pollution containing aerosols such as soot or dust that absorb as well as scatter incoming solar radiation, leading to regional and global climatic effects and posing risks to human health and food security.

What will happen if the atmosphere gets more polluted with smoke and dust?

If the atmosphere gets more polluted with smoke and dust, it will eventually increase the level of harmful gases such as carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. This rise in carbon dioxide would further result in a rise in global temperatures, thus, leading to global warming.

How are clouds related to the atmosphere?

Clouds warm and dry Earth’s atmosphere and supply water to the surface by forming precipitation. Clouds are themselves created by the motions of the atmosphere that are caused by the warming or cooling of radiation and precipitation.

What effect do clouds have on global warming?

At its simplest, the more clouds you have, the more sunlight they reflect and that dampens global warming. But clouds also interact with the infrared radiation that is emitted by the Earth in different ways too, which has a warming effect.

What is cloud cover what is the effect of cloud on the weather?

Cloud cover is generally expressed as a fraction or percentage. Two-thirds of the Earth’s space is generally covered with clouds. Cloud cover plays an important part in the climatic conditions on planet Earth. Cloud cover regulates the temperature on Earth and can have both a cooling and warming effect.

How does pollution affect the color of the sky?

But airborne pollutants do more than soften sky colors. They also enhance the attenuation of both direct and scattered light, especially when the sun is low in the sky. This reduces the total amount of light that reaches the ground, robbing sunrises and sunsets of brilliance and intensity.

How does pollution affect weather?

Some Air Pollutants Cause the Climate to Warm



The recent increase in greenhouse gas pollution is trapping excess heat and causing the climate to warm. Air pollution includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gases cause the climate to warm by trapping heat from the Sun in the Earth’s atmosphere.

How does pollution affect rainfall?

Atmospheric water forms deposits on naturally occurring particles, like dust, to form clouds. But if there is pollution in the atmosphere, the water is bound to deposit on more particles. Spread thin, the water forms smaller droplets, which in turn take longer to coalesce and form raindrops.

What has been the effect of the heavily polluted brown clouds that are now common in some parts of India?

What has been the effect of the heavily polluted “brown clouds” what are now common in some parts of India? Rainfall has decreased and temperatures are cooler.

What are some health effects caused by the brown cloud?

Brown clouds contain a variety of toxic aerosols, carcinogens and particles, including fine particulate matter (PM_2.5). These have been linked with a variety of health effects, including respiratory disease and cardiovascular problems.

Does smoking affect clouds?

Smoke from wildfires in the western United States causes water molecules in the atmosphere to form large numbers of small droplets inside clouds, brightening the clouds and potentially affecting local weather and climate. Smoke particles can serve as seeds around which water condenses.

Does smoking affect clouds?

Smoke from wildfires in the western United States causes water molecules in the atmosphere to form large numbers of small droplets inside clouds, brightening the clouds and potentially affecting local weather and climate. Smoke particles can serve as seeds around which water condenses.

How does pollution affect the color of the sky?

But airborne pollutants do more than soften sky colors. They also enhance the attenuation of both direct and scattered light, especially when the sun is low in the sky. This reduces the total amount of light that reaches the ground, robbing sunrises and sunsets of brilliance and intensity.

How does pollution affect weather?

Some Air Pollutants Cause the Climate to Warm



The recent increase in greenhouse gas pollution is trapping excess heat and causing the climate to warm. Air pollution includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gases cause the climate to warm by trapping heat from the Sun in the Earth’s atmosphere.

How does pollution affect rainfall?

Atmospheric water forms deposits on naturally occurring particles, like dust, to form clouds. But if there is pollution in the atmosphere, the water is bound to deposit on more particles. Spread thin, the water forms smaller droplets, which in turn take longer to coalesce and form raindrops.

What are the 5 effects of pollution?

Effects of Air Pollution

• Harming Human Health. …
• Harming Animals and Plants. …
• Causing Acid Rain. …
• Reducing Sunlight. …
• Making a Hole in the Ozone Layer. …
• Adding Too Much Nitrogen to the Land. …
• Effects of Greenhouse Gas Pollution.

How does air pollution affect water quality?

Air Pollution Affects Water and Weather



Particulate matter can reduce the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth’s surface, affecting the rate at which water evaporates and moves into the atmosphere. They also affect clouds’ formation and water-carrying capacity.