At this point, we all are at the very least familiar with the term climate change. Even those new to the eco-movement have heard and often worried over this dangerous world trend. However, another ecological weather hazard is directly related to climate change and equally threatens our earth. Those deeply involved in the environmental issues are already very aware of global dimming; on the other hand others have yet to even hear of the term let alone understand the complications from this treacherous phenomenon.

What is Global Dimming?
Fossil fuel use creates greenhouse gases. It also creates other by-products which act as pollutants to our world. Such pollutant by-products include sulphur dioxide, soot and ash. These pollutants have the power to change the properties of clouds. Clouds are created when water droplets are seeded by air-borne particles, such as pollen. Polluted air creates clouds with a much larger number of droplets than unpolluted clouds.

Impacts of Global Dimming
Global warming results from the Greenhouse Effect, caused by, in the midst of other things, disproportionate amounts of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere from fossil fuel burning. It would seem then that the by-products at the root of global dimming could actually be our ironic savior. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Before examining global dimming further, one should note that the actual pollutants that cause this phenomenon are dangerous themselves. Experts have sited these by-products alone to result in environmental damage and human health concerns including but not limited to: smog, respiratory problems and acid rain.  However, when these by-products come together to create global dimming, the perils are heightened.

Scientists studying global dimming believe that the reflection of heat have made waters in the northern hemisphere cooler. This cooling effect has resulted in less rain in key areas. Some go as far as to blame global dimming for a number of the severe droughts that have led to relentless famine in Northern Africa.

Scientists predict that ultimately billions of people could be affected by global dimming. Monsoons throughout Asia bring water to over half of our world’s population. If the air pollution and global dimming affect these monsoons over 3 billion people could be affected.

Global Dimming Covering Global Warming?
Frighteningly, Scientists have discovered that  the effects of global dimming have masked the effect of global warming. It would seem our prediction regarding climate change have been lacking at best. Furthermore, resolving global dimming would thereby lead to increases in predictions of future temperature rise. Considering that Scientists currently estimate a 5 degree rise throughout the next century and have deemed this rise extremely grave, our outlook is critically dire. The extent of this masking effect is one of the essential issues in climate change with momentous implications for future climate changes and policies regarding global warming.

It is clear at this point that to address only global dimming, will result in heightened effects of global warming. Some scientists have suggested that that is what occurred in 2003 throughout Europe. In recent years the European Union has taken a variety of procedures to clean up the emissions in order to reduce pollutants that create smog and other issues. However, they have not addressed the greenhouse gas emissions as well. This has had a few startling effects. While this may have lessened the ruthlessness of droughts and failed rains throughout Northern Africa; experts have claimed it may have caused the European heat wave of 2003 which killed thousands in France, resulted in forest fires throughout Portugal and caused numerous other issues all the way through the continent.

By addressing global dimming alone, the result is increased severity of global warming. Irreversible damage could occur as soon as 30 years in the future. Global impacts are frightening. They include:

• Massive melting of ice throughout Greenland, which would lead to more rising sea levels. This would impact many of our major world cities.

• Drying tropical rain forests would greatly increase the risk of fire. This would release even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, further increasing global warming effects.

• Vegetation will die off at an alarming rate

• Soil erosion will increase greatly

• Food production will fail

These and other effects could coalesce and result to a massive increase of 10 degrees centigrade in temperature over the next century; not the standard 5 degrees which most models currently predict.
A severe desert climate would be possible in places such as England and Ireland. Other parts of the world can expect to proceed in even worse circumstances.

The temperature increase itself would result in the release of one of the largest stores of greenhouse gases on earth, methane hydrate, which is currently contained at the bottom of the ocean. Methane hydrate is known to destabilize with temperature increase. This gas is eight times more potent in its greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. Due to the sheer amounts that would be released, by this time, whatever we attempted to combat emissions, would prove futile.

On the flipside, if we attempted to use global dimming pollutants to stave off the effects of global warming, we are still faced with many dangers including but not limited to human health problems from soot and smog, environmental challenges such as acid rain and ecological issues such as changes in rainfall patterns which hold the power to kill millions, if not billions. Currently Climatologists are stressing that the roots of both global dimming causing pollutants and global warming causing greenhouse gases must be dealt with immediately. It is clear that we need to change our way of life rapidly before it is too late.