China's Dust Clouds May Help Cool The Earth - Asahi Shimbun

[hatrack]

"Scientific research shows tiny particles from the Chinese and Mongolian deserts reflect the sun's heat, keeping the Earth cool. As haru-ichiban, the first wind gusts of the year, are considered a harbinger of spring, so too, is the arrival of windblown sand from deserts in China and Mongolia. Every year, tons of the stuff blanket western Japan, adding to respiratory problems and other health woes, not to mention the tedious job of wiping surfaces clean.

In a word, the annual phenomenon is annoying. But now, a joint Japan-China research team says there is a beneficial spin-off: These fine particles of sand, more like dust really, might actually help cool the atmosphere.

From March to May, a huge volume of yellow sand is whipped up in the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts, riding westerly winds to sweep down on prefectures bordering the Sea of Japan. Even 3,776-meter Mount Fuji with its pristine white cap, can look rather dusty at this time of year. At 113 locations nationwide, a record 1,207 yellow-sand days were recorded in 2002. Sometimes the haze was so bad that airline flights had to be canceled.

Now, specialists have discovered that the gritty particles not only blanket the skies over Japan, but blow far across the Pacific Ocean to North America. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Experts say the airborne sand is actually playing an active role in curbing global warming by reflecting sunlight."

EDIT

http://www.asahi.com/english/nation/TKY200502100148.html

[Blower]

1. Now, there is an excuse to go after Iran's oil, no?

Sadly, all this dust hasn't prevented melting glaciers, now has it?

[necso]

2. Then again if this (the linked article in the linked thread) is correct:

Why the Sun seems to be dimming.:

"Sunlight was falling by 10% over the USA, nearly 30% in parts of the former Soviet Union, and even by 16% in parts of the British Isles."

it may not be a good thing. Sooner or later this sort of thing (diminishing sunlight reaching the earth's surface) has to effect crops, and if the garden in my backyard is (was) any guide, then there is a point at which food-crop production drops off rapidly. (It was increasingly cast in the shade by an oak tree -- but I was growing food that did acceptably well in marginal light conditions.)

It is also possible that diminishing sunlight would be masked (in plant production) to some degree by rising carbon dioxide (potentially longer growing seasons, etc). But there has to be some point at which less sunlight reaching the earth's surface is not a good thing. What point is this? -- And to what extent are we going to suffer adverse effects?