News

CSD Scientists Honored with EPA's Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award

entered on 22nd May, 2008 10:06:421 AM MST

CSD scientists David Fahey and John Daniel were part of an author team honored with the EPA's Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award. The award ceremony was held on May 20 in Washington, D.C.

The paper, "The importance of the Montreal Protocol in protecting climate," was published in 2007 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The author team includes also Guus Velders (lead author; Netherlands), Stephen Andersen (EPA), and Mack McFarland (Dupont Fluoroproducts).

The authors show that the international Montreal Protocol agreement that protects the ozone layer has had an additional effect: the direct effect of the Protocol's emission reductions has delayed climate change by 7-12 years of rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In addition to this updated evaluation of the climate impact of the Montreal Protocol to date, the paper explores other ideas for reducing future uses of ODSs and assesses the potential associated climate benefits. The paper thus gives timely scientific information to inform current policy discussions related to climate change.

David Fahey was also honored with an individual award for his contributions to stratospheric ozone-layer research, his leadership in assessments of scientific understanding, and his work as lead author of the 2002 and 2006 documents on Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer that were part of the international assessments for the Montreal Protocol.

Background: The EPA's Stratospheric Ozone Protection Awards were established in 1990. The annual awards recognize outstanding contributions to the protection of the EarthÕs stratospheric ozone layer. Recipients have demonstrated originality and public purpose, persuasive moral and organizational leadership, and elimination of emissions of ozone-depleting substances. The awards are particularly prestigious because nominees compete globally against the notable accomplishments of many other potential winners, and winners are selected using previous winners as judges.

Significance: The paper honored with the team award contributes key climate information at the nexus of science and decision-making, and at a time of heightened attention on the topic. The United Nations Environment Programme also honored the authors of this paper in September 2007 with an award for the Best New Paper on a Montreal Protocol Related Topic in the Science Category, an award offered uniquely as a part of the celebrations associated with the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol. David Fahey's individual award is a significant recognition of his many contributions to communicating important information between the scientific community and educators, students, the general public, and decision makers.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/ozone/awards/winners_2008.html

Susan Solomon Named to Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People

entered on 2nd May, 2008 03:49:49 PM MST

Susan Solomon, senior scientist at the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division, has been named by Time Magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people. She is one of 19 people named in the "Scientists and Thinkers" category of the listing. The printed copies of the special issue will hit the news stands on May 12, but the story is online now.

This is the fifth year that Time has published its list. The list spans politics, entertainment, the arts, science, business, and others.

Each of the 100 is featured with a 1-page profile. Solomon's profile, written by IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri, mentions Solomon's scientific achievements related to the Antarctic ozone hole and her work as Co-Chair of the science working group of IPCC. The latter effort was recognized with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize that was shared by the IPCC and former U.S. Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.

The complete Time listing can be viewed at http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1733748,00.html

Solomon's profile is at http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733754_1735701,00.html

More information: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1733748,00.html

CSD Scientist to Testify on Aviation and Climate at House Subcommittee Hearing

entered on 2nd May, 2008 12:38:36 PM MST

On May 6, Dr. David Fahey, a research physicist at the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division, will testify before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Aviation. The focus of the hearing is the impact of aviation emissions on climate.

Background: Dr. Fahey has been a leader in studies of the atmospheric chemistry related to the emissions from aircraft. He was a Coordinating Lead Author of the chapter on "Aviation-Produced Aerosols and Cloudiness" in the IPCC's 1999 Special Report on Aviation and the Global Atmosphere. He received the DOC Silver Medal in 1996 for his work in making the first in situ measurements of the exhaust of a supersonic aircraft in flight, and analyzing the atmospheric implications. He is currently involved in NOAA's work to use unmanned aircraft systems in carrying out research.

Significance: This work supports NOAA's mission to provide policy-relevant scientific information to decision-makers on topics related to climate.

Sea Salt Adds Pathway for Pollutants to Make Ozone

entered on 15th Apr, 2008 05:11:48 PM MST

Scientists at the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, and the University of New Hampshire have made the first real-world observations of a potentially important source of active halogens in the coastal troposphere, nitryl chloride (ClNO2). The chemical forms at night from the interaction of chemicals derived from anthropogenic nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution and sea salt. Sunlight breaks down the ClNO2 during the daytime, releasing chlorine atoms (Cl) that then take part in reactions that form ozone. The authors concluded that in addition to sea salt, many other particles containing chloride also lead to ClNO2 production. The authors published their findings online in the April 6 edition of Nature Geoscience. Significant press coverage of the story has occurred, including stories by ABC News online, New Scientist, Chemistry World, and the Houston Chronicle.

Background: Chemically active halogens (free radicals such as chlorine atoms, bromine atoms, or oxides ClO, BrO, and IO) are important in the chemistry of the lower atmosphere, especially oxidant chemistry at midlatitudes. However, the detailed chemical processes that convert and cycle halogens in the lower atmosphere are still quite uncertain. Nitryl chloride is a potentially important source of active halogens that, until this study, had not been directly observed in the atmosphere. The authors made their ClNO2 observations in the Gulf of Mexico near Houston with a chemical-ionization mass spectrometry technique deployed on the NOAA research vessel Ronald H. Brown during the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study. They also measured simultaneously the amount of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) as well as other trace gases, so that they could decipher the chemical processes that form the ClNO2 as well as the subsequent chemistry that leads to ozone formation.

Significance: The levels of ClNO2 observed in this study are much greater than earlier estimates based on numerical models. The results indicated that the ClNO2 chemistry could affect oxidant formation in areas where NOx and sea-salt chloride sources exist. Just over half of the global population resides within 200 km of a coastline, where such processes could enhance the photochemical production of ozone. Climate-related effects could also occur through the radiative forcing by ozone, as well as through the interaction of released halogens with sulfur chemistry in the marine atmosphere. This research contributes to the Air Quality Program of NOAA's Weather and Water Goal.

-------------------------
Full citation: Osthoff (1,2), H.D., J.M. Roberts (1), A.R. Ravishankara (1,3), E.J. Williams (1, 2), B.M. Lerner (1,2), R. Sommariva (1,2), T.S. Bates (4), D. Coffman (4), P.K. Quinn (4), J.E. Dibb (5), H. Stark (1,2), J.B. Burkholder (1), R.K. Talukdar (1,2), J. Meagher (1), F.C. Fehsenfeld (1,2), and S.S. Brown (1), High levels of nitryl chloride in the polluted subtropical marine boundary layer, Nature Geosciences, doi:10.1038/ngeo177, 2008.

  1. NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Division
  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
  3. University of Colorado, Boulder
  4. NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
  5. University of New Hampshire

    6. More information: http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13600

    IPY Research on Arctic Aerosol/Ice Melting Connections: ARCPAC Mission Set to Go

    entered on 13th Mar, 2008 12:15:09 PM MST

    As a part of the International Polar Year research, NOAA scientists and their U.S. and international colleagues will conduct the Aerosol, Radiation, and Cloud Processes affecting Arctic Climate (ARCPAC) field study. ARCPAC is an airborne research activity to investigate the climate-changing characteristics of pollution in the Arctic. The ARCPAC work will be a part of the international POLARCAT research activity (Polar Study using Aircraft, Remote Sensing, Surface Measurements and Models, of Climate, Chemistry, Aerosols, and Transport). Scientists from the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division are leading the effort, and scientists from ESRL Global Monitoring Division and NESDIS are among the participants.

    Observations from the ground, from balloons, and from satellite all show that the Arctic is warming faster than the average across the globe. Sea ice cover in summertime has decreased in extent by about 40% relative to the 1979-2000 average, and the concentration and thickness of the sea ice are also decreasing. ARCPAC will investigate the possible connections between pollution such as atmospheric fine particles (aerosol, the "Arctic Haze"), clouds, and the melting of polar ice in the region.

    ARCPAC observations will take place during the first ~3 weeks of April 2008 and will use a NOAA WP-3D research aircraft based at Fairbanks, Alaska. A suite of instruments onboard will make extensive measurements of atmospheric trace gases, aerosol particles, clouds, solar radiation, and meteorology. The experiment will be coordinated with the POLARCAT activity of the IPY, with the NOAA baseline climate research station at Barrow, Alaska, and with the intensive operations period executed at the DOE-sponsored Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site adjacent to NOAA's Barrow site. The relatively aged aerosol pollution studied during ARCPAC will also be compared with the pollution studied during the NOAA-led International Chemistry Experiment in the Arctic Lower Troposphere (ICEALOT) campaign (also in April), which will provide shipboard measurements of atmospheric aerosol and trace gas pollution in the North Greenland and Barents Seas, closer to the pollution sources.

    Background: The long-range transport of anthropogenic pollution from North America, Europe, and western Asia creates the aerosols associated with the so-called Arctic Haze, a phenomenon that recurs every winter and spring. Ozone and aerosol fine particles are produced in the atmosphere when pollutants mix and react in the presence of sunlight. The direct and indirect climate impact of the aerosols can be quite different in the Arctic compared to elsewhere, because the high surface reflections from snow and ice mean that even weakly absorbing aerosol layers can heat the Earth/atmosphere system in the Arctic. Aerosol particles may change the radiative characteristics of clouds in the Arctic and make them more effective insulators. And since some soot is deposited to the surface and darkens the snow, soot may warm both the atmosphere and the surface when the sun rises in springtime.

    Significance: This research will help provide information regarding a question that is foremost among the minds of decision makers, the public, and the scientific community. Namely, why is the Arctic sea ice melting faster than expected? Anticipated payoffs of the research include:

    • Evaluation of Arctic aerosol and cloud processes in global climate models
    • Quantification of sources and characteristics of soot
    • Improved understanding of soot transport and deposition to the Arctic surface
    • Improved understanding of impact of U. S., European, and Asian emissions on Arctic climate
    • Evaluation of representativeness of long-term climate surface observations

    The research contributes to the Understanding Climate Processes capability within the Climate Research and Modeling Program of NOAA's Climate Goal.

    More information: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/arcpac/

    Cloud Chemistry Hatches Aerosols

    entered on 6th Mar, 2008 01:45:15 PM MST

    A recently published Geophysical Research Letters paper was highlighted in the 18 February 2008 edition of "ScienceDaily," an electronic news source that features breaking science news.

    In this paper, published in the 31 January 2008 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, NOAA ESRL scientists in the Chemical Sciences Division and their colleagues at the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Rutgers University, and Colorado State University have unveiled additional sources of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in the atmosphere. Isoprene, the most abundant biogenic hydrocarbon, is emitted from natural sources (some trees and other vegetation) and represents a newly recognized source of atmospheric SOAs. Using model studies based on laboratory experiments, the authors suggest that clouds provide the environment for the transformation of isoprene and its byproducts into aerosol particles. The clouds are able to uptake water-soluble organics formed from isoprene, which are then oxidized within the cloud and form SOAs after cloud droplet evaporation. The authors show that this SOA formation pathway is greatly affected by the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) present. These findings can be used to help explain enhanced SOA formation from isoprene in correlation with anthropogenic tracers (NOx). The work thus helps explain why SOA derived from natural emissions (isoprene) have been observed to have a high correlation with anthropogenic pollution.

    Background: Incoming solar radiation is scattered by aerosols (atmospheric fine particles), a process that has a cooling effect on global climate. Organic aerosols are classified as "primary" or "secondary." To isolate secondary organic aerosols and the influence they have on global climate is much more elusive than identifying primary aerosols. This is because SOA are not directly emitted, but are formed as a result of reactions of precursors gases in the atmosphere.

    Significance: Cloud-derived SOA concentration is boosted as cloud contact-time and liquid water content increase. The authors expect that such information can help improve climate and air quality models. This research contributes to the Air Quality Program within NOAA's Weather and Water Goal and to the Chemical Research and Modeling Program's "Understanding Climate Processes" capabilities within NOAA's Climate Goal.

    More information: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213133256.htm

    Top Climate Paper for 2007 in Nature

    entered on 8th Jan, 2008 04:46:01 PM MST

    An article coauthored by CSD Senior Scientist Susan Solomon has been selected by the manuscript editors of the journal Nature as their pick for the "favorite" paper published on the topic of climate during 2007. The paper, "Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends," was authored by Xuebin Zhang (Environment Canada), Francis W. Zwiers (Environment Canada), Gabriele C. Hegerl (Duke University), F. Hugo Lambert (UC Berkeley), Nathan P. Gillett (University of East Anglia, United Kingdom), Susan Solomon (NOAA ESRL Chemical Sciences Division), Peter A. Stott (University of Reading, United Kingdom) & Toru Nozawa (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan).

    Background: Nature publishes their end-year-year picks for the favorite paper in each of 18 categories (for example, climate, biofuels, the solar system, molecular biology...). Their favorites list for 2007 was published in their December 19 issue. This paper was highlighted in a previous Hot Item near its publication in July of this year.

    Significance: Nature's selection of this paper reflects the high quality and relevance of this research on climate. The paper contributes to NOAA's Climate Goal mission.

    More information: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v450/n7173/full/4501131b.html

    Solomon, Albritton to Attend Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony on December 10

    entered on 5th Dec, 2007 03:49:11 PM MST

    Susan Solomon and Dan Albritton (former CSD Director, now retired) will be among the 25 IPCC attendees at the ceremony for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Monday, December 10 in Oslo, Norway. The Nobel ceremony will be webcast live in full at http://nobelprize.org/award_ceremonies/events_2007.html

    Background: The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was bestowed jointly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former U.S. Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

    The IPCC reports have involved thousands of scientists from over 100 countries around the world who have contributed to its reports since the IPCC's formation in 1988. Susan was Cochair of the science working group (Working Group I) of the most recent comprehensive assessment of the IPCC's three working groups. The Fourth Assessment Report was released in stages during 2007; in the case of WGI, the Summary for Policy Makers was released in February and the full report was released in July. A Synthesis Report of all three Working Groups of the IPCC was just completed in November. Dan played leading roles in the WGI Second Assessment Report (1995) and Third Assessment Report (2001). In the TAR, he was a coordinating lead author of the report's Summary for Policy Makers and its Technical Summary, which are highly read summaries of the full report.

    Significance: The Nobel Peace Prize is recognition, at the highest international level, of the contributions of the world's scientific community at the nexus of climate science and world peace.

    More information: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/press.html

    OAR Outstanding Scientific Paper Explores Summertime Ozone Enhancements

    entered on 29th Oct, 2007 02:57:19 PM MST

    A paper by CSD scientists and their colleagues in ESRL/GMD and other institutions has been selected for the OAR Outstanding Scientific Paper Award in the climate category. Owen Cooper (CIRES/CSD) was lead author of the paper, "Large upper tropospheric ozone enhancements above midlatitude North America during summer: In situ evidence from the IONS and MOZAIC ozone measurement network," published in 2006 in Journal of Geophysical Research.

    Background: In the upper troposphere, ozone acts as a greenhouse gas and hence is relevant to climate. Cooper et al. have found unexpectedly high levels of summertime ozone in the upper troposphere 10-11 kilometers above eastern North America, not attributable to either the high amounts of ozone pollution at Earth's surface or the higher ozone levels in the stratosphere. The authors investigated the cause of these enhancements, which can nearly double the amount of upper tropospheric ozone above the region. It was found that a natural factor - the emission of nitrogen oxides from lightning - acts in concert with the generally higher background levels of ozone precursor compounds in today's polluted atmosphere to produce most of the upper-tropospheric ozone enhancement. This ozone enhancement with a strong natural component contributes to the radiation budget on the regional scale. Further studies are required to gauge potential impacts on surface heating of the southeastern United States and regions downwind.

    Significance: The paper shows that lightning and pollutants combine to cause ozone enhancements in the summertime upper troposphere in the eastern U.S. The process could have implications for surface heating and hence the research is important to climate. The research contributed to NOAA's Climate Forcing Program within the Climate Goal.

    -------------------------
    Paper citation: Owen R. Cooper, Andreas Stohl, Michael Trainer, Anne M. Thompson, Jacquelyn C. Witte, Samuel J. Oltmans, Gary Morris, Kenneth E. Pickering, James H. Crawford, Gao Chen, Ronald C. Cohen, Timothy H. Bertram, Paul J. Wooldridge, Anne E. Perring, William H. Brune, John Merrill, Jennie L. Moody, David Tarasick, Philippe Nédélec, Gerry Forbes, Michael J. Newchurch, Frank J. Schmidlin, Bryan J. Johnson Solene Turquety, Steven L. Baughcum, Xinrong Ren, Fred. C. Fehsenfeld, James F. Meagher, Nicole Spichtinger, Clyde C. Brown, Stuart A. McKeen, I. Stuart McDermid, and Thierry Leblanc. 2006. Large upper tropospheric ozone enhancements above midlatitude North America during summer: In situ evidence from the IONS and MOZAIC ozone measurement network. Journal Of Geophysical Research, 111, D24S05, doi:10.1029/2006JD007306.

    Solomon Receives Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award

    entered on 22nd Oct, 2007 05:22:32 PM MST

    On October 18, Dr. Susan Solomon was presented with the 2007 Lowell Thomas Award of the Explorers Club. She was recognized for "...contribution to humankinds' understanding of climate change phenomenon." Susan's accomplishments have spanned several decades, marked very notably by her discovery of the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole in the 1980s and her recent work (since 2001) as Cochair of the scientific Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Her many pioneering achievements are a good fit with the Explorers Club's award, which recognizes outstanding explorers who have distinguished themselves in a particular field. Dr. Richard Feely of PMEL also received the award for his research on the role of the oceans in the carbon cycle and the potential consequences of ocean acidification.

    Background: The Lowell Thomas Award is named for 53-year club member Lowell Thomas (1892-1981), the American writer, explorer, and broadcaster who accompanied T.E. Lawrence during the Arab revolts and made "Lawrence of Arabia" famous. Previous recipients have included Isaac Asimov, Sylvia Earle, Carl Sagan, Buzz Aldrin, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sir Edmund Hillary, and Wade Davis.

    Significance: The award recognizes Susan's longstanding contributions to the success of NOAA's mission objectives in the Climate Goal. The award also gives a very visible example of the endeavors of NOAA Research scientists to achieve and maintain preeminence in research.

    Ravishankara Addresses Climate, Air Quality in Workshop with Stakeholders

    entered on 11th Oct, 2007 12:11:29 PM MST

    CSD Director A.R. Ravishankara is participating in an October 11 workshop on "Impacts of Climate Change on Air Quality in the Pacific Southwest." The meeting is being hosted by US EPA Region 9 and the EPA's Office of Research and Development. Ravi is giving a presentation as part of a panel discussion on future information needs at the climate-air quality interface.

    Background: In addition to EPA scientists and air quality managers, the workshop includes participants from the California Air Resources Board, scientists from academia, State air quality officials from several states in the southwest U.S., and environmental officials from the Navajo Nation and Baja, California. The stated goal of the workshop is, "to provide EPA Region 9 and state/local/tribal air quality managers with information to help understand and plan for air quality issues resulting from climate change." In addition, the workshop will help guide future interagency research efforts on the topic.

    Significance: Scientists in NOAA's Climate Goal and Weather and Water Goal are working together to foster future NOAA research efforts on climate-air quality linkages. The workshop illustrates the intense interest in this topic held by NOAA's stakeholders.