8th IGRSM International Conference and Exhibition on Remote Sensing & GIS (IGRSM 2016) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 37 (2016) 012076 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/37/1/012076
affect humans and ecosystems, with serious socioeconomic consequences [1].The complexity of the
climate system is enormous. The thermal gradient caused by the lower tropospheric warming and
corresponding cooling over the upper troposphere largely regulates the atmospheric general
circulation patterns. In the changing climatic scenario, the recent sharp rising trend in the surface air
temperature over the Indian landmass is attributed to the large-scale declining trend in Indian summer
monsoon rainfall [2]. Not only the temperature gradient but also the pressure gradients across the
Indian landmass plays a major role in controlling the climate system in and around the Indian
subcontinent [3].Anthropogenic changes in the atmosphere can have a profound impact on the climate
and the consequences are assumed to occur at present [4]. Climate change may result in an increase in
the frequency of floods in many regions. However, natural changes in the Earth’s climate might have
been augmented by the enhanced greenhouse effect, caused by manmade changes in the Earth’s
environment. Greenhouse gases and aerosols are the two most important elements that affect the
radiation balance of the earth’s atmosphere. It is well established now that the anthropogenic
emissions of greenhouse gases (most importantly CO2) into the atmosphere cause global warming of
the troposphere [1].
In this paper we highlighted and put together role of air pollutant on climate change over the Indian
subcontinent. Aerosols play a crucial role in the climate of the Earth–atmosphere system by means of
their direct and indirect impacts, and are considered to be one of the largest uncertain components of
the global climate system [4]. The overall composition of aerosol density is likely to affect the large-
scale heating and pressure gradients in the atmosphere, which can amend the circulation pattern, cloud
dynamics, precipitation and so on [5]. CO is another important atmospheric pollutant for a number of
reasons. The major source of CO emission in India is traditional bio-fuel use, which is almost 50% of
the total Indian CO emission [6]. Carbon monoxide can be measured from space and can be used to
identify sources of air pollution. The industrialization of eastern Asia has influenced the chemical
climate of India through transport processes and thus through the Indian monsoon [7]. The small belt
of ozone around the globe filters the ultraviolet radiations reaching the ground and thereby protects
the whole biosphere from harmful effect [8].
2. Aerosols mechanism and its influence on climate
In the monsoonal countries like India and China, aerosol problem is ever becoming acute due to
increased loading of atmospheric pollutants from anthropogenic as well as natural sources [9].They
interact with various monsoonal activities, for example, energy balance, cloud formation processes
and so on [10] and perturb their normal occurrences. The magnitude and sign of aerosol radiative
impact depend on physical, chemical and radiative properties of these aerosols. Aerosols are classified
into natural and anthropogenic, according to their origin. Sea salt, dust, natural sulphates, etc., are
naturally occurring aerosols, whereas soot, industrial sulphates, black carbon, etc., are of
anthropogenic origin. Soot is an absorbing aerosol whereas dust and organic matter are partly
absorbing. Interactions between dust aerosols and clouds in the upper troposphere and lower
stratosphere can produce a significant impact on atmospheric radiation budget, and hence on global
and regional climates.
Carbonaceous aerosols have received much attention recently because of their potential role in
regional climate change [11].Black carbon is a light-absorbing aerosol, that is, the by-product of
incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fuel. Because of its absorptive nature, Black Carbon accounts
directly for the reduction in incoming short-wave solar radiation at the Earth’s surface, leading to
heating of the atmosphere and thus possibly changing the temperature structure in the troposphere,
which in turn affects the cloud microphysical properties and thereby rainfall mechanisms [11].Global
warming produced by greenhouse gases is partly suppressed by aerosols; they therefore have a
substantial role in the radiation budget and climate. The radiative effects of aerosols on the Earth’s
atmospheric system are governed by the quantity of aerosols in the atmosphere, their vertical
distribution, size distribution and single scattering albedo, and the reflectivity of the underlying
surface. Climate change is one of the most burning issues globally; aerosols have great potential to
bring out changes in climatic conditions at regional and global scales [12].
