Impacts of black carbon on environment and health

Abstract

During the last few decades, black carbon (BC) has attracted significant attention among scientific communities due to its observable hostile effects on air quality, agriculture, forests, human health, the economy, and environment. BC is a light-absorbing particle in the atmosphere that is emitted mainly from fossil fuels, biomass burning, and vehicular emissions. Although ample studies on BC aerosol characteristics have been carried out worldwide, significant uncertainties remain due to the different emission sources and their interactions with complex atmospheric processes. Thus, an in-depth understanding of BC and its potential impacts is greatly needed. This chapter presents a brief overview of the characteristics, sources, and transport mechanisms of BC and its impacts on the environment as well as human health. In addition, the chapter also highlights instructions to the public, policymakers, and local environmental bodies to control BC emissions. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.