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Blowin’ in the wind
The importance of this long-distance logistical chain has become apparent only in the past few years, and researchers are still working out its many repercussions—for the more you look at dust, the more effects it seems to have. African dust is thought, for example, to stimulate plant growth in the Amazon by bringing in phosphorus (which is in short supply there). This may put a check on global warming by removing what would otherwise be a long-term constraint on the forest’s ability to suck up carbon dioxide as it grows.
Dust which does not reach land may do something similar to the sea. Some parts of the ocean are short of iron, which red desert dust has in abundance. Dust from the Gobi desert seems to stimulate plankton blooms in the nutrient-poor waters of the North Pacific, though it is not clear whether this results in a net reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide, since that would require some of the plankton to sink to the seabed, never to return.
Dust aloft cools the land below, as Europe’s meteorologists found out in May 2008. It does this directly, by reflecting sunlight back into space, and indirectly, by helping clouds to form. The effect is significant. The carbon dioxide which has been added to the atmosphere since the industrial revolution began has a greenhouse effect equivalent to the arrival of about 1.6 watts of extra solar power per square metre of the Earth’s surface. The direct effects of dust are estimated to provide a countervailing cooling of about 0.14 watts per square metre. Add the indirect effect on clouds and this could increase markedly, though there are great uncertainties.

A. 어휘
logistical 兵站(병참)의. logistical chain 물류連鎖(연쇄).
work out 문제를 풀다. apparent 눈에 또렷한, 명백한.
repercussions 反響(반향), 영향. phosphorus 燐鑛(인광)을 함유한.
check 억제, 沮止(저지). put a check on 억제하다.
constraint 억제, 압박. suck up 흡수하다. in abundance 풍부하게.
bloom 꽃, 最盛期(최성기). nutrient-poor 영양분이 부족한.
net 순수한, 正量(정량). reduction 감소. Dust aloft 공중에 떠 있는 먼지.
reflect 反射(반사)하다. indirectly 간접적으로. significant 중대한, 意義(의의) 깊은.
equivalent to ...에 相當(상당)하는, 대등한. square 平方(평방).
countervailing 相殺(상쇄)하는. markedly 현저하게, 눈에 띄게.