According to an article I read, the recent release of radioactive substances in Japan is said to have an impact on our climate. In fact, it would be the reason behind the continued warm weather. I checked with a biologist and she thinks it may have something to do with the ozone layer.
Answer
Dear Oliver,
It seems unlikely to me that the emission of radioactive substances in Japan would affect our climate. Climate warming has to do with the (increasing) presence in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases that reflect infrared radiation (and thus trap heat radiation in the atmosphere).
Radioactivity has to do with a transformation of atomic nuclei. But the radioactive isotopes released in Japan (including cesium and iodine) have nothing to do with greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Both greenhouse gases and radioactive radiation can be harmful to people and the environment, but that doesn’t mean they are related.
Moreover, the number of radioactive particles released remains relatively small compared to the number of molecules in the atmosphere; That is why the connection seems very unlikely to me.
Greetings,
Philippe
Answered by
Prof. dr. Dr Philippe Tassin
applied physics; optics; photonics; physics
Avenue de la Plein 2 1050 Ixelles
http://www.vub.ac.be/
.