Soot Is Almost Pure Carbon and Warms the Planet
Soot is the black deposit from incomplete burning. It has a significant climate effect.
Soot is the fine black powder deposited by incomplete combustion, largely carbon. Known scientifically as black carbon, it warms the atmosphere in two ways: airborne particles absorb sunlight directly, and when soot settles on snow and ice it darkens the surface so that less sunlight is reflected and melting accelerates. Unlike carbon dioxide it clears within weeks, so reducing it has fast effects. Soot also gave the first recognised occupational cancer, identified in chimney sweeps in 1775.
- Combustion residue. *Chimney soot.*
- Black carbon. *Black carbon.*
- Sooty — covered in soot. *Sooty walls.*
- Lampblack — a pigment from soot. *Lampblack.*
- Old English — *sot*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | soot | Soot. |
| Adjective | sooty | Sooty. |
| Related | lampblack | Lampblack. |
| Related | carbon | Carbon. |
| Old English | sot | Soot. |
- Soot coated the chimney.Deposit.
- It darkens snow and speeds melting.Climate.
- Sweeps suffered soot cancer.History.
Percivall Pott and the sweeps
- In 1775 the surgeon Percivall Pott studied chimney sweeps
- He linked their high rate of scrotal cancer to soot exposure
- It was the first occupational cancer ever identified
- Boys as young as four were used to climb narrow flues
- The finding eventually drove sanitation and labour reform
Old English *sot*, of Germanic origin, related to Old Norse *sot*.
Does soot affect the climate?
Yes. Airborne particles absorb sunlight, and soot settling on ice darkens it so melting accelerates.
What was the first occupational cancer identified?
Scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps, linked to soot by Percivall Pott in 1775.