Credit: Courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. All others can be credited as: Courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory
Aerosols are suspensions of tiny particles in the atmosphere, and have both anthropogenic (i.e., man-made) sources such as industrial processes and car emissions, and natural sources such as forest fires, volcanoes, and wave-breaking in the ocean. Aerosol particles affect Earth's climate, both individually and by serving as the nuclei around which cloud drops form, by influencing how much solar energy is absorbed by Earth (including the oceans, atmosphere, and land) or is reflected back into space. Collecting accurate data and achieving better understanding of the roles in which aerosols participate is thus crucial to understanding their effects on Earth's climate. Graphic courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory