Air+Pollution

Air Pollution

Looking out from the Etiwanda Preserve

Black carbon is the second largest man-made contributor to global warming and its influence on climate has been greatly underestimated, according to the first quantitative and comprehensive analysis of this issue.

Key findings •Black carbon has a much greater (twice the direct) climate impact than reported in previous assessments. •Black carbon ranks “as the second most important individual clim ate-warming agent after carbon dioxide”. •Cleaning up diesel engines and some wood and coal combustion could slow the warming immediately. The landmark study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres today says the direct influence of black carbon, or soot, on warming the climate could be about twice previous estimates. Accounting for all of the ways it can affect climate, black carbon is believed to have a warming effect of about 1.1 Watts per square meter (W/m²), approximately two thirds of the effect of the largest man made contributor to global warming, carbon dioxide.

 =[|China's state-run media recognizes severe air pollution, calls for change] =

[|Take Two for January 15, 2013]


The "airpocalypse" is the term being used to describe the record high levels of pollution in China's northern region, including the capital city of Beijing. In recent days, the poor air quality has sent hundreds to local hospitals for respiratory problems, and the thick smog closed freeways and airports because of poor visibility. The country has even issues an "orange fog warning," due to diminishing visibility, and even the usually mum state-run media [|has been covering the issue] and calling for emergency measures to curb pollution.

The smog is finally starting to dissipatem, but will all that pollution blowing out to sea hit the West Coast?

Kim Prather, professor of atmospheric chemistry at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, joins the show to tell us more.



Tourists wearing facemasks walk by the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, as Saturday's PM 2.5 air quality index reached around 470-490. (Photo/Xinhua)

BEJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's air pollution reached dangerous levels yet again on Sunday, marking the third consecutive day of severe smog, municipal environmental authorities said.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The municipal meteorological station issued the city's first o <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">range fog warning Sunday morning due to decreased visibility caused by the heavy smog.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Monitoring data released on Sunday showed that air quality indexes in most regions of Beijing had hit 500, the indexes' highest level.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The municipal environmental monitoring center said readings for PM2.5, or airborne particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, had reached more than 700 micrograms per square meter at several monitoring stations in Beijing, reaching as high as 993 Saturday evening.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">"These figures represent extremely bad pollution. Pollutants have gradually accumulated over the course of recent windless days, making the air quality even worse," said Zhu Tong, a professor from the college of environmental sciences and engineering at Peking University.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The pollution is expected to engulf Beijing until Wednesday, when wind will arrive to blow the smog away, according to a weather report from the meteorological station.

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">As is often the case in the winter, a thick river of haze hovered over the Indo-Gangetic Plain in January 2013, casting a gray pall over northern India and Bangladesh. On January 10, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of haze hugging the Himalayas and spilling out into the Ganges delta and Bengal Sea.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The haze likely resulted fr <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">om a combination of urban and industrial pollution, agricultural fires, and a regional meteorological phenomenon known as a temperature inversion. Usually the air higher in the atmosphere is cooler than the air near the surface, a situation that allows warm air to rise and disperse pollutants. However, cold air often settles over northern India in the winter, trapping warmer air—and pollution—close to the surface, where it has the greatest impact on human health.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Air quality has emerged as a significant problem for India and Bangladesh in the past decade. A study conducted by Tel Aviv University researchers and published in the American Journal of Climate Change found that levels of air pollution in large Indian cities increased at some of the fastest rates in the world between 2002 and 2010—faster even than rapidly-growing Chinese cities.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Many Indian cities recorded double-digit increases in pollution over the study period. Calcutta, the third-most populous city in India, saw an 11.5 percent increase in pollution; Bangalore (not shown in the image) had the largest increase of any Indian city: 34 percent. The research was based on information collected by MODIS and by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Instrument: Aqua - MODIS

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">February 4, 2013 Looking south from the 210 FWY just before Day Creek about 10:20 AM

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Driving into Palm Springs area January 31, 2013 about 11:00 AM

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Visible Ship Tracks

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Previously we posted about a NASA satellite being able to see pollution from shipping lanes ( <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3b5998; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-decoration: none;">@http://on.fb.me/WQ1Ral <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">). This image from NASA’s Aqua satellite with the onboard Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) shows the visible effect of ships.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">These ship tracks are formed as a result of the ships exhaust. In the exhaust there are tiny particles (aerosols), t <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">hese aerosols act as a sort of seed for cloud formation. And because they are more numerous and smaller than natural aerosols, like sea salt or desert dust, they can form more and smaller water droplets. This is why the ship tracks tend to be brighter than natural clouds.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">---Adam

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> @http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80203

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">CONTRAILS OVER PORTUGAL AND SPAIN

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Contrails are condensation trails that form behind high-altitude aircraft. The composition of contrails is practically identical to naturally-forming cirrus clouds; naturally high levels of humidity cause the clouds to form, and contrails form when airplanes inject extra water vapour into the atmosphere through their exhaust. Air temperatures must be -39°C (-38°F <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">) or below in order for contrails to develop.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Depending on the humidity of the air, contrails can last seconds or many hours. If the air is dry, the contrails linger in the air for seconds to a few minutes. When the air is humid, the contrails can spread outward until they are difficult to distinguish from naturally occurring cirrus clouds. Though most of the contrails in humid air last a few hours, satellites have observed clusters of contrails lasting up to 14 hours and traveling for thousands of kilometres before dissipating.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Contrails do have an impact on climate. The long-lived and spreading contrails (like the ones pictured) reflect sunlight and trap infrared radiation. Even one contrail in a clear sky reduced the amount of radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface and at the same time increases the amount of infrared radiation absorbed by the atmosphere. Until now, it has been difficult to ascertain what overall impact these two effects have on climate.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Scientists at NASA’s Langley Research Center have developed a computer algorithm that searches through data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and distinguishes between natural cirrus clouds and young- to medium-aged contrails. This allowed the scientists to estimate how much contrails contribute to overall cirrus and cloud coverage.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The group published their findings in a 2013 article in Geophysical Research Letters ( http://bit.ly/ZuGmdO ). The group estimated that contrails cover between 0.07% and 0.40% of the Northern Hemisphere sky in a given year. When scaled to the Southern Hemisphere, the global mean coverage would be 0.07%. Coverage is greatest during winter and least during the summer. The researchers also concluded that contrails produce a slight net warming effect on the Earth. The researchers still have the challenge of detecting the older, wider contrails, like the ones in the image shown, to better estimate their coverage and impact on climate.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">This image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on February 15, 2013; it shows many contrails over Portugal and Spain.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">-TEL

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80476&src=fb

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Spangenberg, D. (2013, Feb. 11). Contrail radiative forcing over the Northern Hemisphere from 2006 Aqua MODIS data. Geophysical Research Letters. ( http://bit.ly/ZuGmdO )

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response.

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">POLLUTION CRISIS OVER SALT LAKE, UTAH

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">When most people think of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, they associate the area with great skiing, the 2002 Olympics, and captivating scenic views. Recently however, a dark cloud has plagued Salt Lake City with issues of pollution and worsening air quality. So bad in fact, that doctors of the area are even declaring a health emergency for the city of Salt Lake <span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> and other neighboring towns. Officials are taking extreme measures to address this pressing issue by increasing public transportation in hopes of reducing green house gas admissions and other pollutants from car exhaust. In addition, city officials are also asking that employees work from their homes to help reduce emissions of air pollutants.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The EPA’s standard for micrograms of pollution (µg/m3) is set at 35 per cubic meter of air. Salt Lake’s levels are well over three times this limit, levels that are worse at times than Beijing. In early February, levels of pollution even spiked at 120 µg/m3 leaving scientists and climate change experts puzzled and at a standstill.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">The reasons for Salt Lake’s pollution are strongly related to the city’s geographic location and terrain. Salt Lake rests about 1,320 meters (4,330 feet) above sea level. At that altitude, the air is considerably thinner and lighter in density. In addition to this, the city lies in a bowl, almost completely surrounded by mountain peaks. When mass amounts of pollutants are released in these conditions, they become trapped in the bowl by the hovering warmer air through a process called inversion. The warmer air traps the pollutants by acting as a blanket over the bowl. When the Salt Lake freezes in the winter, its frozen surface acts as a mirror which reflects sunlight and heat into the atmosphere. This warms the air and traps even more pollutants which worsens the smog. It is a vicious cycle that is frustrating scientists and local residents.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Hope is not lost for Salt Lake though. Experts and specialists are working efficiently and diligently to preserve one of America’s most beautiful attractions. Low-chemical consumer products are being introduced to the area that will help lower pollutants and green house gasses while bans on burning wood and coal have already been in place. In addition to this, the transportation department has reshaped their public transportation plans, and smokestack industries in the area must cut their emissions by another 5% in the near future. Initiatives are being taken by high-ranking officials and scientists, now they need the public’s help and willingness to cooperate with these new measures in place. Only then will the smog clear.

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">-Pete D

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Photo reference:

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Chris Detrick, The Salt Lake Tribune,

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55751647-78/pollution-products-utah-consumer.html.csp

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">References:

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">1. https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/opinion/8762/when-good-air-mass-goes-bad

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/salt-lake-city-air-pollution_n_2534949.html

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">3. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55695303-78/pollution-utah-cubic-micrograms.html.csp

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">4. http://www.louisvilleky.gov/apcd/aboutairpollution/glossary.htm

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">5. @http://www.visitsaltlake.com/about-salt-lake/facts/

<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">6. @http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55751647-78/pollution-products-utah-consumer.html.csp