soot – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Measuring the “Other” Greenhouse Gases: Higher Than Expected Levels of Methane in California

By Guest PostJune 16, 2012Environmentanthropogenic, atmospheric lifetime, berkeley lab, black carbon, california, carb, carbon dioxide, central valley, ch4 emissions, climate pollutant, CO2, coal mines, decomposition, environment policy, fossil fuel, fraction, global warming, greenhouse gas, halocarbon gases, landfills, livestock ranches, man made source, map, marc l fischer, methane, methane emissions, methane signals, natural sources, nitrous oxide, noaa, organic matter, refrigerants, sacramento, seongeun jeong, soot, sound energy, spatial, temporal resolution, united states, walnut grove

Berkeley Lab scientists develop new method for evaluating short-lived pollutants.

New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found that levels of methane—a potent greenhouse gas emitted from many man-made sources, such as coal mines, landfills and livestock ranches—are at least one-and-a-half times higher in California than previously estimated.

Working with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Berkeley Lab scientists Marc L. Fischer and Seongeun Jeong combined highly accurate methane measurements from a tower with model predictions of expected methane signals to revise estimated methane emissions from central California. They found that annually averaged methane emissions in California were 1.5 to 1.8 times greater than previous estimates, depending on the spatial distribution of the methane emissions. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Study Assesses Residential Cooking Exhaust Hoods’ Ability to Vent Pollutants

By Guest PostJune 4, 2012Environmentair pollutants, airflow, berkeley lab, brett singer, capturing pollutants, carbon monoxide, cook stoves, cooking exhaust hoods, energy star, fine particulates, formaldehyde, gas burners, home ventilating institute, nitrogen oxides, pollutant capture efficiency, pollutants, soot, sound level, vent pollutants, woody delp

Cooking exhaust hoods designed for home kitchens vary widely in their ability to capture and vent away the air pollutants generated by the gas burners on cook stoves, according to a study by two Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists. Of seven representative devices they tested, the capture efficiency varied from less than 15 percent to more than 98 percent.

The study, by Woody Delp and Brett Singer of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, measured their pollutant capture efficiency, sound level generated by their fans, and airflow. Cooking exhaust hoods vent such pollutants as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, and fine particulates such as soot generated during cooking. (more…)

Scientists Unlock Record of Ecosystem Changes Frozen in World’s Glaciers

By Guest PostFebruary 22, 2012Environmentalaska, andrew vermilyea, aquatic food web, aron stubbins, atmosphere, biomass, black carbon, dissolved organic matter, dom, earth, eran hood, fossil fuel, glacial ice, glacier biogeochemistry, glacier environment, glacier ice, glaciers, global emission, greenland, gulf of alaska, ice of glaciers, industrial pollution, industrial revolution, juneau, marine system, matt kane, mendenhall glacier, microorganisms, organic material, patagonia, peatlands, peter raymond, remote ecosystem, robert spencer, skidaway institute of oceanography, soot

*History of influence of industrial revolution hidden in glacial ice*

New clues about how Earth’s remote ecosystems have been influenced by the industrial revolution have been uncovered. Until now they were locked away, frozen in the ice of glaciers.

So say scientist Aron Stubbins of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and colleagues. (more…)

Rising Air Pollution Worsens Drought, Flooding UMD-Led Study Shows

By Guest PostNovember 14, 2011Environmentaerosols, air pollution, air pollution and climate change, beijing normal university, climate change, climate scientist, cloud development, cloud drops, daniel rosenfeld, dust, economic gains, global satellite products, greenhouse gases and aerosol particles, hazardous to both human health and the environment, ice crystals, impact of aerosols on cloud height and thickness, intensity of severe storms, management and use of water resources, NASA, oklahoma, particulate matter in the atmosphere, polluted deep clouds, precipitation in dry regions or seasons, probability of heavy rain, rain, russell dickerson, small particles, snowfall, soot, stephen e schwartz, steve ghan, sulfate particles, tiny solid particles or liquid particles suspended in air, tony busalacchi, university of maryland, urbanization, us southern great plains, weather and climate, zhanqing li

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Increases in air pollution and other particulate matter in the atmosphere can strongly affect cloud development in ways that reduce precipitation in dry regions or seasons, while increasing rain, snowfall and the intensity of severe storms in wet regions or seasons, says a new study by a University of Maryland-led team of researchers.

The research provides the first clear evidence of how aerosols — soot, dust and other small particles in the atmosphere — can affect weather and climate; and the findings have important implications for the availability, management and use of water resources in regions across the United States and around the world, say the researchers and other scientists. (more…)

Tag Archives: soot

Measuring the “Other” Greenhouse Gases: Higher Than Expected Levels of Methane in California

Berkeley Lab Study Assesses Residential Cooking Exhaust Hoods’ Ability to Vent Pollutants

Scientists Unlock Record of Ecosystem Changes Frozen in World’s Glaciers

Rising Air Pollution Worsens Drought, Flooding UMD-Led Study Shows