This video has been produced in partnership with EUMETSAT.

Atmospheric aerosols are liquid, solid, or mixed particles suspended in the air. They can vary in chemical composition and size distribution, with the larger particles able to scatter and absorb sunlight, thus reducing visibility (haze) and redden sunrises and sunsets. Aerosols can also be found all around the world, from near the Earth's surface to the upper atmosphere.

The majority of aerosols - about 90% - are from natural sources including dust storms, volcanoes, forest fires, and sea spray. The remaining 10% are considered to be anthropogenic, coming from sources including fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, vehicle traffic and agriculture.

As well as visibility, aerosols also affect our climate, environment and human health - as particulate matter (PM2.5 & PM10) is linked to a number of health issues including heart disease, respiratory disease, lung cancer, low birth weights and more.

The MAIA mission from NASA-JPL is a planned mission for late 2022 that will fly in low-Earth orbit to track harmful particulate pollution. MAIA will make radiometric and polarimetric measurements needed to characterize the sizes, compositions and quantities of particulate matter in air pollution. As part of the MAIA investigation, researchers will combine MAIA measurements with population health records to better understand the connections between aerosol pollutants and health problems such as adverse birth outcomes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and premature deaths.

In this video, David Diner goes into more detail about aerosols and their effect on our environment and health, and the MAIA mission.

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Featured Educator:

• Dr David Diner, NASA-JPL

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In Partnership with EUMETSAT