4. Environmental impact

The presence of aerosols in the atmosphere has only recently been taken into account in climate and pollution models. Nevertheless, increasing aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere have already been shown to significantly modulate the amplitude of disturbances induced by human activities. It is an atmospheric compound that needs to be monitored simultaneously with trace gas concentrations (such as carbon dioxide or ozone). The processes by which atmospheric aerosols are emitted, transported, aged and interact with solar and terrestrial radiation need to be studied and understood. Figure 6 gives an overview of the different sources of aerosols and their potential impact on...