Editing Asian brown cloud (section)

{{Short description|Recurrent layer of air pollution covering South Asia}}
{{about|the Indian Ocean brown cloud|China|Air pollution in China}}
The '''Indian Ocean brown cloud''' or '''Asian brown cloud''' is a layer of [[air pollution]] that recurrently covers parts of [[South Asia]], namely the northern [[Indian Ocean]], [[India]], and [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Srinivasan 
 |title=Asian Brown Cloud – fact and fantasy 
 |journal=Current Science 
 |volume=83 
 |issue=5 
 |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102002/586.pdf 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105023244/http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102002/586.pdf 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-date=5 November 2004 
 |date=10 September 2002 
 |pages=586–592 
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|last1=Ramanathan
|first1=Veerabhadran
|author-link=Veerabhadran Ramanathan
|title=Indian Ocean experiment: An integrated analysis of the climate forcing and effects of the great Indo-Asian haze
|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research
|volume=106|issue=D22
|year=2001|pages=28371–28398
|doi=10.1029/2001JD900133
|last2=Crutzen
|first2=P. J.
|last3=Lelieveld
|first3=J.
|last4=Mitra
|first4=A. P.
|last5=Althausen
|first5=D.
|last6=Anderson
|first6=J.
|last7=Andreae
|first7=M. O.
|last8=Cantrell
|first8=W.
|last9=Cass
|first9=G. R.
|last10=Chung
|first10=C. E.
|last11=Clarke
|first11=A. D.
|last12=Coakley
|first12=J. A.
|last13=Collins
|first13=W. D.
|last14=Conant
|first14=W. C.
|last15=Dulac
|first15=F.
|last16=Heintzenberg
|first16=J.
|last17=Heymsfield
|first17=A. J.
|last18=Holben
|first18=B.
|last19=Howell
|first19=S.
|last20=Hudson
|first20=J.
|last21=Jayaraman
|first21=A.
|last22=Kiehl
|first22=J. T.
|last23=Krishnamurti
|first23=T. N.
|last24=Lubin
|first24=D.
|last25=McFarquhar
|first25=G.
|last26=Novakov
|first26=T.
|last27=Ogren
|first27=J. A.
|last28=Podgorny
|first28=I. A.
|last29=Prather
|first29=K.
|last30=Priestley
|first30=K.
|bibcode=2001JGR...10628371R|display-authors=8
|doi-access=free
}}</ref> Viewed from [[satellite photo]]s, the cloud appears as a giant brown stain hanging in the air over much of the [[Indian subcontinent]] and the Indian Ocean every year between October and February, possibly also during earlier and later months. The term was coined in reports from the UNEP [[Indian Ocean Experiment]] (INDOEX). It was found to originate mostly due to farmers burning [[Crop stubble|stubble]] in northern Indian states such as [[Punjab]], [[Haryana]], and [[Uttar Pradesh]], as well as in the [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab region of Pakistan]]. The debilitating air quality in Delhi is also due to the [[stubble burning]] in Punjab.<ref name="Ramanathan-2002">Ramanathan, Veerabhadran ''et al.'' (2002) [http://www.rrcap.unep.org/issues/air/impactstudy/index.cfm ''The Asian brown cloud climate and other environmental impacts: impact study''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040605194625/http://www.rrcap.unep.org/issues/air/impactstudy/index.cfm |date=June 5, 2004 }} Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi Kenya, {{ISBN|92-807-2240-9}}, accessed 8 December 2008</ref>

The term ''atmospheric brown cloud'' is used for a more generic context not specific to the Asian region.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Haag |first=Amanda Leigh|date=2007 |title=The even darker side of brown clouds |journal=Nature Reports Climate Change|volume=1|issue=709|pages=52–53|doi=10.1038/climate.2007.41 |doi-access=free}}</ref>