Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




FROTH AND BUBBLE
Asian ozone pollution in Hawaii is tied to climate variability
by Joanne Curcio for Princeton News
Princeton NJ (SPX) Feb 03, 2014


Asian pollution drifts east toward North America in 2010. Hawaii is denoted by the star. Image courtesy Nature Geoscience.

Air pollution from Asia has been rising for several decades but Hawaii had seemed to escape the ozone pollution that drifts east with the springtime winds. Now a team of researchers has found that shifts in atmospheric circulation explain the trends in Hawaiian ozone pollution.

The researchers found that since the mid-1990s, these shifts in atmospheric circulation have caused Asian ozone pollution reaching Hawaii to be relatively low in spring but rise significantly in autumn.

The study, led by Meiyun Lin, an associate research scholar in the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (NOAA) at Princeton University and a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, was published in Nature Geoscience.

"The findings indicate that decade-long variability in climate must be taken into account when attributing U.S. surface ozone trends to rising Asian emissions," Lin said. She conducted the research with Larry Horowitz and Songmiao Fan of GFDL, Samuel Oltmans of the University of Colorado and the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder; and Arlene Fiore of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Although protective at high altitudes, ozone near the Earth's surface is a greenhouse gas and a health-damaging air pollutant. The longest record of ozone measurements in the U.S. dates back to 1974 in Hawaii. Over the past few decades, emissions of ozone precursors in Asia has tripled, yet the 40-year Hawaiian record revealed little change in ozone levels during spring, but a surprising rise in autumn.

Through their research, Lin and her colleagues solved the puzzle. "We found that changing wind patterns 'hide' the increase in Asian pollution reaching Hawaii in the spring, but amplify the change in the autumn," Lin said.

Using chemistry-climate models and observations, Lin and her colleagues uncovered the different mechanisms driving spring versus autumn changes in atmospheric circulation patterns. The findings indicate that the flow of ozone-rich air from Eurasia towards Hawaii during spring weakened in the 2000s as a result of La-Nina-like decadal cooling in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

The stronger transport of Asian pollution to Hawaii during autumn since the mid-1990s corresponds to a positive pattern of atmospheric circulation variability known as the Pacific-North American pattern.

"This study not only solves the mystery of Hawaiian ozone changes since 1974, but it also has broad implications for interpreting trends in surface ozone levels globally," Lin said. "Characterizing shifts in atmospheric circulation is of paramount importance for understanding the response of surface ozone levels to a changing climate and evolving global emissions of ozone precursors," she said.

The work was supported by NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Climate Science at Princeton University. Ozone measurements were obtained at Mauna Loa Observatory, operated by NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory.

Meiyun Lin, Larry W. Horowitz, Samuel J. Oltmans, Arlene M. Fiore, Songmiao Fan. Tropospheric ozone trends at Mauna Loa Observatory tied to decadal climate variability. Nature Geoscience, Published Online: 26 January, 2014.

.


Related Links
Princeton Journal Watch
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FROTH AND BUBBLE
Integrating vegetation into sustainable transportation planning may benefit public health
Sacramento, CA (SPX) Jan 28, 2014
Strategic placement of trees and plants near busy roadways may enhance air quality and positively impact public health. In recent years, the health of people living, working, or going to school near roads with high traffic volume has been a rising national concern. Studies conducted in the United States and throughout the world have shown that air pollution levels are especially elevated n ... read more


FROTH AND BUBBLE
Fire erupts at US nuclear waste plant

Repairs may mean darker hue for Rio's iconic Christ statue

Prisoners again bolt typhoon-damaged Philippine jail

One in 4 Japan tsunami children needs psychiatric care

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Oman orders NASAMS air defense system

A Proposal For The Space Debris Society

Storage system for 'big data' dramatically speeds access to information

Raytheon secures first international customer for its F-16 RACR AESA radar

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Satellites Show California Water Storage at Near-Decade Low

Is there an ocean beneath our feet?

Smithsonian reports fiery-red coral species discovered in the Peruvian Pacific

Can workshops on household water use impact consumer behavior?

FROTH AND BUBBLE
NASA Radar Maps the Winter Pace of Iceland's Glaciers

Arctic lakes show climate on thin ice

Greenland's fastest glacier reaches record speeds

Greenhouse "Time Machine" Sheds Light on Corn Domestication

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Herbicides may not be sole cause of declining plant diversity

Local foods offer tangible economic benefits in some regions

Are invasive plants a problem in Europe? Controversial views among invasion biologists

Beneficial insects, nematodes not harmed by genetically modified, insect-resistant crops

FROTH AND BUBBLE
New Indonesian volcanic eruption halts search

New quake inflicts fresh damage on Greek island

Cut off by floods, British village becomes an island

Philippine typhoon survivors brace for new storm

FROTH AND BUBBLE
'Do not disappoint', Nigeria's new top brass told

Vodacom sees surge in Africa mobile data usage

Head of Algeria ruling party attacks powerful intel chief

Zambia national park mining plan draws protests

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Researchers discover how brain regions work together, or alone

Experiments show human brain uses one code for space, time, distance

Neanderthal lineages excavated from modern human genomes

When populations collide




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement