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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.
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.
Cities restricted the number of cars on the road, coal-fired power plants reduced emissions or were shuttered and replaced with natural gas. pollution is falling, harmful ground-level ozone pollution is on the rise, especially in large cities. There was so much particulate matter in Chinese cities that it stunted the ozone production.
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.
A study by researchers at the University of Texas found that in general, use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can lead to an increase in ozone during nighttime hours (due to decreased scavenging from both vehicles and EGU stacks) and a decrease in ozone during daytime hours.
Drought conditions can have complicated effects on ozone air quality, so to better understand the process, researchers have analyzed data from two ozone-polluted cities before, during and after the California drought. However, plants also decrease air ozone levels by taking the gas up through pores in their leaves.
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.
Unlike exhaust from burning coal and gas that contains CO 2 , burning hydrogen emits only water vapor and oxygen. Hydrogen is not a greenhouse gas, but its chemical reactions in the atmosphere affect greenhouse gases such as methane, ozone, and stratospheric water vapor. Sand et al.
The first peer-reviewed study to directly quantify how emissions from oil and natural gas (O&NG) activities influence summertime tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) pollution in the Colorado Front Range confirms that chemical vapors from oil and gas activities are a significant contributor to the region’s chronic ozone problem.
A University of Utah engineer has developed an inexpensive new method to remove oil sheen by repeatedly pressurizing and depressurizing ozonegas, creating microscopic bubbles that attack the oil so it can be removed by sand filters. The ozone in the bubble attacks certain pollutants because it is a strong oxidant.
(Japan) report in the journal Angewandte Chemie the development of a mesoporous two-line ferrihydrite (2LFh)—ferrihydrite is a widespread mineral composed of iron, oxygen, and water—that could lead to a new generation of ozone filters in electrostatic devices and aircraft applications. removal; it showed about 95 % O 3.
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.
Black carbon and tropospheric ozone are harmful air pollutants that also contribute to climate change. Reducing black carbon and tropospheric ozone now will slow the rate of climate change within the first half of this century, the study said.
This research, published in the journal Separation and Purification Technology , shows that ozone can be used to remove not only SO x but also NO x from fossil fuel combustion exhaust streams. In this study, to improve absorption performance of SO 2 and NO 2 , we added ozone in exhaust gas. Osaka et al. 2018.12.077.
This analysis examined the effect of flight distance on greenhouse gas emissions per passenger, and compared emissions from flying different distances with annual emissions from driving. Greenhouse gas emissions were examined for 17 nonstop flights with round-trip distances ranging from 131 miles to 19,040 miles. by Michael Sivak.
The two combine in the atmosphere to make either nitric acid or peroxynitrous acid; the so-called branching ratio of these two chemicals is important in models of ozone production. This means less of the hydroxyl radical and nitrogen dioxide go away, leading to proportionately more ozone, mostly in polluted areas, Okumura said.
The proposed multi-pollutant rule would further reduce air pollution from heavy-duty engines and vehicles across the United States, including ozone and particulate matter (PM). In addition, as part of this rulemaking, EPA is proposing targeted updates to the existing Heavy-Duty Greenhouse Gas Emissions Phase 2 program (HD GHG Phase 2).
Relying more on natural gas would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, but it would do little to help solve the climate problem. The situation is further complicated by uncertainty over the amount of methane that leaks from natural gas operations. Methane is an especially potent greenhouse gas. degree Fahrenheit (less than 0.1
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.
Denver represents an interesting case study for exploring potential PHEV impacts because it violates the federal air quality standard for ozone and because several large EGUs [electricity generating units] are located in or near the urbanized area. Ozone concentration increases were modeled for small areas near central Denver.
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
Five technology paths for very-low-NO x and GHG emissions from heavy-duty natural gas engines. The “Pathways to Near-Zero-Emission Natural Gas Heavy Duty Vehicles” report, authored by GNA on behalf of Southern California Gas Co. Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge. Background. Click to enlarge.
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.
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.
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.
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.,
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.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed standards to reduce harmful air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations. Natural gas production in the USis growing, with more than 25,000 new and existing wells fractured or re-fractured each year. Methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas.
Some of the substitutes for ozone-damaging chemicals that being phased out worldwide under international agreements are themselves potent greenhouse gases and contribute to warming. Burkholder (2015) “An atmospheric photochemical source of the persistent greenhouse gas CF4” Geophysical Research Letters doi: 10.1002/2015GL066193.
Funded in part by a $5-million zero-emissions grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, the electric buses replace the aging compressed natural gas bus fleet that has been operating at SJC since 2008. The electric bus fleet is anticipated to reduce ozone emissions by 1.1
After a critical review of the literature on the air impacts of increased natural gas acquisition, processing, and use, a team of US researchers has determined that that actual measurement data on various individual segments of the natural gas life cycle are sparse or critically lacking. well production end-of-life.
VOCs, primarily emitted from the tailpipes of vehicles, are a key ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone which, at high levels, can harm people’s lungs and damage crops and other plants. —lead author Carsten Warneke, Ph.D.,
The chemical, which does not deplete the ozone layer, may now be used in air conditioning for new cars and light trucks. Prior to HFC-134a, car air conditioners generally used CFC-12, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance. less than the current chemical (HFC-134a) used in most car air conditioners.
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.
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.
has brought 67 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) solid waste and recycling trucks to serve customers throughout southern New Jersey and in Philadelphia. One of the more lasting contributions we can make in our community is to protect the environment by reducing ozone-forming emissions wherever possible.
Transportation accounts for approximately 40% of statewide greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon and trucks are among Oregon’s fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and rising. In Oregon, heavy-duty trucks and buses are responsible for nearly 23% of total transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions.
New research by a team at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York suggests that gas-aerosol interactions can amplify the global warming impact of some greenhouse gases. And hydroxyls drive long chains of reactions involving other common gases, including ozone. Source: Shindell at al. Click to enlarge.
The levels of these non-fuel-derived gases will likely remain unchanged, even as more drivers transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles. Cars’ average carbon dioxide emissions have dropped by 25% since the early 2000s, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but this gas only accounts for part of the total.
has deployed 23 compressed natural gas (CNG) solid waste and recycling trucks to serve customers throughout the Twin Cities area. Republic operates a fleet of more than 1,400 CNG vehicles and 26 natural gas fueling stations nationwide. Natural gas fueling stations enable CNG trucks to fuel during non-peak hours.
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.
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.
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