Nature Communications (Apr 2016)

Local biomass burning is a dominant cause of the observed precipitation reduction in southern Africa

  • Øivind Hodnebrog,
  • Gunnar Myhre,
  • Piers M. Forster,
  • Jana Sillmann,
  • Bjørn H. Samset

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11236
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Black carbon aerosols in the atmosphere absorb solar radiation and affect the hydrological cycle. Here, the authors show that local aerosol emissions from biomass burning activities are a main cause of observed decline in southern African dry season precipitation over the last century.