Brown carbon ‘tarballs’ that hasten glacial melt found in Himalayan atmosphere

Nearly 28 per cent of particles collected from the air samples from a research station in the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau were tarballs.

Context

• Nearly 28 per cent of particles collected from the air samples from a research station in the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau were tarballs.

What are Tarballs?

• Tarballs are small light-absorbing, carbonaceous particles formed due to burning of biomass or fossil fuels that deposit on snow and ice.
• Primary brown carbon (BrC) co-emitted with black carbon (BC) from biomass burning is an important light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol.
• The percentage of the tarballs increased on days of higher levels of pollution and could contribute to hastening of glacial melt and global warming.
• The median sizes of externally mixed tarballs and internally mixed tarballs were 213 and 348 nanometre respectively.

Impact

• Tarballs from long-range transport can be an important factor in the climatic effect and would correspond to a substantial influence on glacial melting in the Himalaya region.