black carbon

Coined by American physicist Tihomir Novakov in 1980.

black carbon (uncountable)

1. Elemental carbon in the form of very fine graphite particulates, a major component of soot.
   • 1980, T. Novakov, Soot in the Atmosphere, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Report LBL-11676, page 1:

     Carbonaceous particles in the atmosphere consist of two major components — graphitic or black carbon and organic material.

   • 2021 October 6, Philip Haigh, “Pollutants and air quality on our trains”, in RAIL, number 941, page 32:

     Black carbon is the sooty material ejected from diesel engines in their exhaust gases. RSSB notes that it can cause lung diseases. Nitrogen dioxide is also a product of burning diesel and can effect people's lungs.

• Black carbon is often used misleadingly to refer to the soot that is present in the atmosphere.

• carbon black