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Air: Climate and Pollution
Chapter 9
Outline:
• Atmosphere and Climate
• Climate Change
– El Nino
– Human Causes
• Climate and Pollution
– Kinds of Pollution
– Sources
– Transport
• Effects of Air Pollution
• Air Pollution Control
Climate and Air Pollution
• Over the past 20
years, developed
countries have
made progress in
improving air
quality.
• Unfortunately, air
quality in the
developing world
has been getting
worse.
Major Air Pollutants: Problems
• Sulfur dioxide - acid rain, health damage,
visibility reduction
• Nitrogen oxides - acid rain, eutrophication,
growth of weedy species
• Carbon monoxide - inhibited respiration
• Lead and mercury - neurological damage
• Chlorofluorocarbons - ozone depletion
• Particulate matter - lung damage, cancer
• Volatile organic compounds – isoprenes,
terpenes, methane, & benzene,
chloroform, etc oxidized to CO,
CO2 in the atmosphere
Los Angeles
Indoor Air Pollution
• Smoking - diseases
related to smoking
responsible for 20% of
deaths in the U.S.
• In less-developed
countries, poorly
ventilated heating and
cooking fires represent
the greatest source of
indoor air pollution.
Interactions Between Climate
Processes and Air Pollution
• Long range transport
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Montreal Protocol - 1987
Jet Streams & Jet Streaks
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/
mtr/cyc/upa/jet.rxml
http://sd.znet.com/~aringler/jet.htm
Long range transport of pollutants
Circumpolar
winds
transport air
pollution from
heavily
industrialized
regions to the
Arctic, where
high levels of
smog
accumulate.
Ozone Depletion
CFC Production
Production of chloroflurocarbons
(CFCs)
Montreal Protocol passed in 1987
Effects of Air Pollution
•
•
•
•
Human health
Plant pathology
Visibility reduction
Acid deposition
Ecosystem damage caused by sulfur dioxide
emissions and acid rain.
Acid Precipitation, 2000
Air Pollution Control
• Early approach: “Dilution is the solution to
pollution”
• Particulate removal - air filters
• Sulfur removal - scrubbers
• Nitrogen oxide reduction - catalytic
converters
• Hydrocarbon controls - afterburners
Automobile Emission Control System
CLEAN AIR LEGISLATION
• Clean Air Act (1963) - First national air
pollution control.
• Clean Air Act (1970) rewrote original
Act.
– Identified critical pollutants.
– Established ambient air quality standards.
• Primary Standards - Human health
• Secondary Standards - Materials, environment,
aesthetic and comfort.
Conventional Pollutants
• US Clean Air Act designated seven major
(conventional or criteria) pollutants for
which maximum ambient air levels are
mandated.
– Sulfur Dioxide
– Carbon Monoxide
– Particulates
– Hydrocarbons
– Nitrogen Oxides
– Photochemical Oxidants
– Lead
Clean Air Act
• Revision (1990) - Included provision for:
– Acid Rain
– Urban Smog
– Toxic Air Pollutants
– Ozone Protection
– Marketing Pollution Rights
– Fugitive emissions of volatile organics
– Ambient ozone, soot, and dust.
– NOx emissions
• Clear Skies ( 2002) – market-based approach
Greenhouse Gases
• Carbon Dioxide - Fossil-fuel burning.
• Atmospheric levels increasing steadily.
• Methane - Ruminants, Coal-mines
• Absorbs more infrared than CO2.
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) - Refrigerants
• Declined in recent years
• Nitrous Oxide - Burning organic material
• Sulfur Hexafluoride - Electrical insulation
International Climate Negotiations
• Kyoto Protocol
– (proposed 1997 & begins 16 February 2005)
• industrialized countries are to reduce their
combined emissions of six major greenhouse
gases during the five-year period from 2008 to
2012 to below-1990 levels.
• For many countries, achieving the Kyoto
targets will be a major change that will require
new policies and new approaches.
International Climate Negotiations
• Re: Kyoto Protocol
• Green Party Co-Leaders Jeanette
Fitzsimons and Rod Donald will this
afternoon be visiting the US Embassy
and the Australian High
Commission to deliver letters calling
on their governments to ratify the
Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. ()
Science and Policy in the Kyoto
Protocol
Current Conditions and
Future Prospects
Developed vs.
Developing
Countries
CURRENT AND FUTURE
CONDITIONS
• In the United States, air quality has
improved dramatically in the last decade in
terms of major large-volume pollutants.
– Cities where pollution is largely from traffic
still have serious air quality problems.
• Major metropolitan areas of many
developing countries are growing at
explosive rates, and environmental quality
is very poor.
Some Good News: U.S. Trends
-2002
48%
-17%
-51%
-34%
-52%
-98%
Summary:
• Atmosphere and Climate
• Climate Change
– El Nino
– Human Causes
• Climate and Pollution
– Kinds of Pollution
– Sources
– Transport
• Effects of Air Pollution
• Air Pollution Control