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New analysis has found increasing emissions of several ozone-depleting chemicals despite their production being banned for most uses under the Montreal Protocol—and a loophole in the rules is likely responsible. According to the researchers, emissions from these CFCs currently do not significantly threaten ozone recovery.
A study led by Norwegian climate center CICERO has found that the global warming effect of leaked hydrogen is almost 12 times stronger than that of CO 2. Unlike exhaust from burning coal and gas that contains CO 2 , burning hydrogen emits only water vapor and oxygen. A global warming potential of 11.6 Sand et al. Sand et al.
Ozone levels across much of North America and Europe dropped significantly between 2000 and 2014. People living in parts of southern Europe, South Korea and southern Japan and China also experienced more than 15 days a year of ozone levels above 70 ppb. Trends in daily maximum ozone levels (known as 4MDA8) at urban and non-urban sites.
They found that the increase in ozone burden due to the spatial distribution change slightly exceeds the combined influences of the increased emission magnitude and global methane. Based on their findings, they suggested that emission increases in Southeast, East and South Asia may be most important for the ozone change.
Levels of two major air pollutants have been reduced significantly since lockdowns began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a secondary pollutant—ground-level ozone—has increased in China, according to new research. Ozone is harmful to humans at ground-level, causing pulmonary and heart disease. —Guy Brasseur.
Relying more on natural gas would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, but it would do little to help solve the climate problem. It would be many decades before it would slow down global warming at all, and even then it would just be making a difference around the edges. Methane is an especially potent greenhouse gas.
Global benefits from full implementation of the identified measures in 2030 compared to the reference scenario. Black carbon and tropospheric ozone are harmful air pollutants that also contribute to climate change. Full implementation of these measures would reduce future global warming by 0.5 °C Click to enlarge.
Springtime ozone distributions for 1984, 1995–2008 in the mid-troposphere (3.0–8.0 Springtime ozone levels above western North America are rising primarily due to air flowing eastward from the Pacific Ocean, a trend that is largest when the air originates in Asia. The US EPA recently proposed new tougher ground-level ozone standards.
Through a recent modeling experiment, a team of NASA-funded researchers have found that future concentrations of carbon dioxide and ozone in the atmosphere and of nitrogen in the soil are likely to have an important but overlooked effect on the cycling of water from sky to land to waterways. Cronin, J. Melillo, D. Kicklighter, C.
Emissions of one of the chemicals most responsible for the Antarctic ozone hole are on the rise, despite an international treaty that required an end to its production in 2010, a new study by researchers at NOAA and their colleagues shows. —NOAA scientist Stephen Montzka, lead author of the paper.
In its recently released Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 – 2011 ( earlier post ), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that methane (CH 4 ) emissions from the field production of natural gas have declined by 36% from 2007 to 2011 (from 83.1 a global warming potential of 21. (The
CSIRO scientists have developed a new way to account for ozone in computer simulations of the climate. This latest modeling shows that the oceans take much less ozone out of the atmosphere than previously thought. Ozone (O 3 ) is formed by reactions of chemicals such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds—i.e.,
The global market for rocket launches may require more stringent regulation in order to prevent significant damage to Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer in the decades to come, according to a new study by researchers in California and Colorado. Darin Toohey.
NOAA’s updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, shows a continued steady upward trend. NOAA scientists created the AGGI recognizing that carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas affecting the balance of heat in the atmosphere.
Global levels of the hydrocarbons ethane and propane in the atmosphere have been underestimated by more than 50%, according to a new study by a team of scientists from Europe and the US. Levels of ethane and propane declined in many places the 1980s and 1990s, but global growth in demand for natural gas means these trends may be reversing.
Currently, anthropogenic N 2 O emissions represent the largest contribution to ozone depletion. The study, published online 27 August in the journal Science , for the first time evaluated nitrous oxide emissions from human activities in terms of their potential impact on Earth’s ozone layer. Source: Ravishankara et al. The team, A.R.
Led by the tiny Pacific island of the Federated States of Micronesia, a growing group of low-lying islands and other vulnerable countries are calling for fast action on the approximately 50% of global warming that is caused by pollutants other than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The next round of UN climate negotiations begins in Cancun today.
Ozone pollution near Earth’s surface is one of the main ingredients of summertime smog. It is also not directly measurable from space due to the abundance of ozone higher in the atmosphere, which obscures measurements of surface ozone. —Jin et al.
This new global emission estimate is startling. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and stratospheric ozone destruction. It is produced via a microbial process called denitrification, which converts nitrogen to nitrous oxide and an inert gas called dinitrogen.
The Bakken Formation, a shale oil and gas field in North Dakota and Montana, is emitting roughly 2% (about 250,000 tons per year) of the globe’s ethane, according to new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan. And they’re sufficient to explain much of the global shift in ethane concentrations.
A global phase down of HFCs could potentially reduce some 90 gigatons of CO 2 equivalent by 2050, equal to roughly two years worth of current global greenhouse gas emissions. While they do not deplete the ozone layer, many are highly potent greenhouse gases.
Renault selected six environmental indicators for the LCA: Global Warming 100yr Potential (kg CO 2 equivalent). Quantifies non-natural increase of greenhouse effect gas concentration (CO 2 , N 2 O, CH 4 , refrigerants.) in the atmosphere and consequently of global warming potential. Tailpipe CO 2 (NEDC). emissions). The review.
The 100-year global warming potentials (GWPs) for methane, CO, and NO x (per Tg N) as given in the AR4 and in this study when including no aerosol response; the direct radiative effect of aerosol responses; and the direct+indirect radiative effects of aerosol responses. Source: Shindell at al. Click to enlarge. Shindell et al.
The chemical, which does not deplete the ozone layer, may now be used in air conditioning for new cars and light trucks. When used appropriately, EPA says, this chemical can reduce the environmental impact of motor vehicle air conditioners and has a global warming potential that is 99.7%
In the months following a pulse of NO x in the upper atmosphere, ozone production is stimulated causing a short-term warming. The corresponding reduction in CH 4 , which is an important ozone precursor, leads to a long-term reduction in ozone. —Stratton et al.
Thus, the researchers concluded, switching from PFI to GDI vehicles will likely lead to a reduction in net global warming. Recent studies have compared emissions of PFI and GDI vehicles, including particle number and mass, gaseous pollutants, and nonmethane organic gas (NMOG) composition for a limited number of compounds.
Now, researchers from Sandia National Laboratory’s Combustion Research Facility, the University of Manchester and the University of Bristol report in a paper in Science the first direct kinetics measurements made of reactions of any gas-phase Criegee intermediate, in this case formaldehyde oxide (CH 2 OO). —Welz et al.
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has issued its official Auction Notice for the California Cap-and-Trade Program Greenhouse Gas Allowance Auction on 19 February 2013—the second official auction. The Cap-and-Trade Regulation sets an overall limit (cap) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from specified industrial sectors.
The exponentially increasing global market share of EVs has prompted research on their efficacy in reducing greenhouse gases, but comparatively little effort has focused on their impact on air quality. coal, oil, natural gas, and biomass). —Schnell et al. Seasons and times of day. Schnell et al.
The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2010 since pre-industrial time and the rate of increase has accelerated, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Nitrous oxide contributes about 6% to the overall global increase in radiative forcing since 1750.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its latest set of proposed standards to reduce emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the oil and natural gas industry. The proposal also includes incentives to spur the oil and gas industry to minimize leaks.
The process involves swirling the gas with air as part of the power generation process. Although the space and time-averaged emission (STAE) of NO was found to decrease with increase in the global equivalence ratio (global ?) The localized NO concentrations in non-premixed flames were shown to depend on the local ?
For the first time, observed Southern Hemisphere greenhouse gas (GHG) data can be easily accessed by the public on a new CSIRO website. The atmospheric level of carbon dioxide, which is the most important long-lived greenhouse gas influenced by human activities, is at its highest level in more than a million years. per cent each year.
The Volkswagen Group announced that it is choosing CO 2 as the future low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant for its mobile air conditioning (MAC) systems. With a GWP (Global Warming Potential) value of 1, R744 is 99.3% Earlier post.). Earlier post.). below the EU’s now-specified GWP limit of 150 for MAC systems.
HFCs are synthetic gases that are used in a variety of applications, but mainly to replace ozone-depleting substances in aerosols, foams, refrigeration and air-conditioning. California is required to reduce HFC emissions 40% below 2013 levels by 2030 under Senate Bill 1383.
Improving access to cleaner forms of transportation, like electrified public transport and active commuting by cycling and walking, would not only bring down NO 2 levels, but would also reduce asthma, enhance physical fitness, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. —Susan Anenberg.
Despite reports that global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, HFC-23, were almost eliminated in 2017, an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has found atmospheric levels growing at record values. This gas has very few industrial applications.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners—play a role in creating a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. 2 in 2020, before declining by approximately 26% by 2050, despite continued growth of fully fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions. years of CO 2 emissions at current levels.
Schematic diagram of the trade-offs between the implications for regional air quality and global climate change of new policies for management of the atmosphere. The complex roles that ozone and aerosols play in the atmosphere provide examples of such trade-offs. Source: NOAA. Click to enlarge. emission inventories?
Tom Sharkey, chairperson of the Michigan State University biochemistry and molecular biology department, believes isoprene, a gas given off by plants to help them cope with rapid increases in temperature that can occur in sunlight. His team also has created models to measure how much isoprene plants release on a global scale.
Specifically, the proposed rule updates the current prohibition under section 608 of the Clean Air Act against knowingly venting, releasing or disposing of ozone-depleting (ODS) and substitute refrigerants and extends the requirements, as appropriate, to non-ozone-depleting substitute refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
The California Energy Commission approved a $1-million grant to develop a 12-liter natural gas engine that produces near-zero nitrogen oxide (NO x ) tailpipe emissions. Cummins has a history of developing natural gas engines for heavy-duty application, and its engines are being used globally in a variety of commercial vehicles.
Atmospheric levels of major greenhouse gases continue to increase, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) 2008 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. According to the NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), the total radiative forcing by all long-lived greenhouse gases has increased by 26.2% since 1990 and by 1.3%
Unlike other ethers, DME does not form peroxides, is non-toxic, has no effect on global warming nor ozone depletion and can be considered an environmentally friendly solvent. Both DME synthesized gas and liquid from coal are being utilized more frequently as inexpensive fuels in the People’s Republic of China.
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