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http://theconversation.com/air-pollution-from-europe-and-america-is-making-the-tropics-drier-37395
Air pollution pumped out by factories and power plants in Europe and North America has led to drier spells in the tropics, thousands of miles to the south. Scientists had long suspected this was the case and even had modelled the change in computer simulations, but now for the first time we have direct evidence – straight from a cave in Belize.
Precipitation in the tropics, including Belize, is governed by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) – a belt of monsoon rainfall encircling the Earth near the equator that migrates seasonally between the hemispheres. The relative temperature difference between the hemispheres plays a crucial role in controlling the position of the ITCZ and hence, rainfall distribution in the tropics.
What we found was a distinct drying trend in Belize since 1850 that coincides with a steady rise in industrial aerosol emissions in North America and Europe. This presents strong evidence that industrial sulfate emissions have shifted the position of the ITCZ through reflecting the Sun’s incoming radiation and therefore moderating warming in the northern hemisphere.
Our claims are backed up by the volcano record. Emissions from volcanoes are similar to those produced by burning fossils fuels – basically lots of sulphur – and we identified short-lived drier spells in the northern tropics following very large volcanic eruptions in the northern hemisphere, such as the Icelandic Laki eruption in 1783.
I'm not sure why they single out North America and Europe as sources of sulfates, but probably because of proximity to their tropical study site, Belize. Asia, dominated by India and China, is the largest source region of sulfates. It's been known for some time that they affect downstream weather in the Pacific, the North American West coast, and probably further downstream in the continent. They act in a number of ways, by reflecting sunlight directly, and also by seeding clouds, which gives more energy to storms allowing their convective currents to reach higher. Much as volcanoes lead to short term cooling by sulfates and long term warming by carbon dioxide, so do fossil fuels. When Asia cleans up their sulfate emissions, we're in for a big surprise downstream. For more on this, check out this January 26, 2015 release from NASA.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Monday February 16 2015, @04:13AM
I routinely deliberately apply sulphur ( elemental form ) to my lawn. I have alkali soil. The buggies oxidize it into sulphate, and it becomes calcium sulphate ( aka gypsum ) upon reacting with the alkali metals in my soil ( calcium/magnesium - which I seem to have in great abundance ). Once slightly acidic, the other minerals in the soil become bio-available, no longer locked up in the hydroxide form. Then everyone is happy, plants, bugs, and all.
Everything gets real green and I have to spend a lot of time pruning...
Sulphur is an essential element for building proteins. The amino acid cysteine comes to mind. The sulphur forms the bonding sites that allow proteins to fold and snap together properly.
Unless the sulphur is in great excess ( literally anything in excess is not a good thing ), what is the problem with the sulphur? Its not like we can can create or destroy the stuff, as being an element, we mostly move it from place to place unless we involve it in some sort of nuclear reaction.
And yes, I am due to go buy another 50 pound bag of the stuff for the same reason: it drops my soil pH - I am trying to hold it at 6 or so... as the fruit trees I have like it that way.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by LancePodstrong on Monday February 16 2015, @02:38PM
Did you read TFA? Apparently it dries the tropics and enhances mid-latitude storms.
In the atmosphere after coming out of a power plant or a volcano, it's in the form of sulfur dioxide, a highly toxic gas that affects the health of those in the immediate vicinity. It's a primary component of smog, the stuff impeding visibility and causing asthma in industrialized cities all across the world. It also causes acid rain [wikipedia.org] further downstream once it's absorbed into clouds. This stuff leeches nutrients out of the plants it falls on, dissolves rocks and metals including things we like such as buildings and statues, and harms aquatic ecosystems both directly and by leeching aluminum out of the soil.