MINERAL DUST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Mineral dust affects the radiation and energy budget of the earth mainly by absorbing and scattering solar and terrestrial radiation, and thus affects the climate change. It is generally stated that the net radiative effect of dust corresponds to a cooling effect at the surface and a warming at the altitude of the dust layers. But the sign of the effect of the mineral aerosol on the radiative budget at the surface and at top of atmosphere depends on highly variable dust parameters, primarily the concentration, mineralogical composition, size distribution and vertical distribution of the particles, and on external parameters such as the surface albedo and temperature. Meanwhile, both climate change and human activities, such as land use, desertification and metropolitanization, could lead to the change of mineral dust in the atmosphere. It is now believed that mineral dust plays an important role in the global climatic and environmental change.