Editing IPCC:AR6/Data/Glossary (section)

=== <span class="glossary-term">Aerosol</span> ===

<div class="glossary-working-groups">'''Working Groups:''' WGI; WGII; WGIII</div>

<div class="glossary-definition">'''Definition:''' A suspension of airborne solid or liquid particles, with typical particle size in the range of a few nanometres to several tens of micrometres and atmospheric lifetimes of up to several days in the troposphere and up to years in the stratosphere. The term aerosol, which includes both the particles and the suspending gas, is often used in this report in its plural form to mean ‘aerosol particles’. Aerosols may be of either natural or anthropogenic origin in the troposphere; stratospheric aerosols mostly stem from volcanic eruptions. Aerosols can cause an effective radiative forcing directly through scattering and absorbing radiation (aerosol–radiation interaction), and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nucleating particles that affect the properties of clouds (aerosol–cloud interaction), and upon deposition on snow- or ice-covered surfaces. Atmospheric aerosols may be either emitted as primary particulate matter or formed within the atmosphere from gaseous precursors (secondary production). Aerosols may be composed of sea salt, organic carbon, black carbon (BC), mineral species (mainly desert dust), sulphate, nitrate and ammonium or their mixtures.</div>
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