Air pollution is a global environmental issue that affects the health and well-being of millions of people around the world. Recently, the eastern region of the United States has been experiencing a concerning phenomenon—air pollution cloaking the area for a second consecutive day. The presence of this thick smoke has raised questions about its origins, its impact on human health, and the measures being taken to address the issue. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind the persistent air pollution in the eastern US and shed light on the extent of its consequences.
Air Pollution Cloaks Eastern US for a Second Day. Here’s Why There Is So Much Smoke
The air pollution that is blanketing the eastern US for a second day can be attributed to a combination of factors. These include industrial emissions, transportation exhaust, agricultural practices, and wildfires. Let’s delve into each of these causes to gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation.
Industrial Emissions: Contributing to the Smoke
One of the primary contributors to the air pollution in the eastern US is industrial emissions. The region is home to numerous manufacturing plants, power stations, and factories that release harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. These emissions contain a variety of toxic substances, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. When these pollutants accumulate in the air, they can form a thick haze of smoke, significantly reducing air quality and visibility.
Transportation Exhaust: Adding to the Problem
The high volume of vehicles on the roads in the eastern US also plays a significant role in worsening air pollution. The exhaust emissions from cars, trucks, and other transportation sources release pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide into the atmosphere. These pollutants contribute to the formation of smog, which exacerbates the smoke issue in the region.
Agricultural Practices: An Unexpected Culprit
While industrial emissions and transportation exhaust are commonly associated with air pollution, agricultural practices can also be a surprising factor. In the eastern US, certain farming techniques, such as the burning of crop residues and the use of chemical fertilizers, release pollutants into the air. These practices contribute to the smoke that envelops the region, adding to the already compromised air quality.
Wildfires: The Major Trigger
Among the various causes of air pollution, wildfires have emerged as the major trigger for the smoke that cloaks the eastern US. Wildfires produce copious amounts of smoke, releasing hazardous pollutants and fine particles into the atmosphere. The eastern US is particularly susceptible to wildfires due to its dense forests and dry climate conditions. When these fires occur, the smoke can travel great distances, resulting in widespread air pollution and reduced air quality.
The Impacts of Air Pollution in the Eastern US
The persistent air pollution in the eastern US has numerous adverse effects on both the environment and human health. Let’s explore some of these impacts:
- Environmental Impact:
- Degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity loss
- Acid rain formation, damaging forests and aquatic ecosystems
- Climate change acceleration due to greenhouse gas emissions
- Health Impact:
- Respiratory problems, including asthma and bronchitis
- Increased risk of heart disease and lung cancer
- Impaired immune system and increased vulnerability to infections
- Economic Impact:
- Increased healthcare costs due to higher rates of respiratory illnesses
- Reduced agricultural productivity due to damaged crops and livestock
- Decreased tourism and outdoor recreational activities
FAQs about Air Pollution in the Eastern US
Here are some frequently asked questions about air pollution in the eastern US and their corresponding answers:
1. What are the main pollutants present in the smoke?
The main pollutants present in the smoke are particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
2. How does air pollution from wildfires affect air quality in neighboring areas? Air pollution from wildfires can significantly impact air quality in neighboring areas. The smoke released during wildfires contains fine particles and pollutants that can travel long distances, leading to a decline in air quality even in regions far from the actual fire.
3. What are the long-term health risks associated with exposure to air pollution?
Long-term exposure to air pollution can increase the risk of developing chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and even lung cancer. It can also contribute to cardiovascular diseases and weaken the immune system, making individuals more susceptible to infections.
4. How can individuals protect themselves from the harmful effects of air pollution?
To protect themselves from the harmful effects of air pollution, individuals can:
- Stay indoors and keep windows closed during periods of high pollution.
- Use air purifiers or filters to improve indoor air quality.
- Limit outdoor activities, especially during peak pollution hours.
- Wear masks or respirators designed to filter out pollutants when venturing outside.
5. What measures are being taken to address air pollution in the eastern US?
To address air pollution in the eastern US, various measures are being implemented, including:
- Stricter emission regulations for industrial facilities and vehicles.
- Promotion of renewable energy sources to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
- Implementation of sustainable agricultural practices to minimize pollution.
- Enhanced monitoring and early warning systems for wildfires.
6. How can individuals contribute to reducing air pollution?
Individuals can play a significant role in reducing air pollution by adopting environmentally friendly practices, such as:
- Using public transportation or carpooling to reduce vehicle emissions.
- Conserving energy at home by using energy-efficient appliances and turning off lights when not in use.
- Recycling and properly disposing of waste to prevent pollution.
- Supporting clean energy initiatives and advocating for stricter environmental regulations.
The persistent air pollution that has cloaked the eastern US for a second day has been primarily caused by a combination of industrial emissions, transportation exhaust, agricultural practices, and wildfires. These factors contribute to the formation of thick smoke, which not only impairs air quality but also has detrimental effects on the environment and human health. Understanding the causes and impacts of air pollution is crucial in implementing effective measures to mitigate its effects and safeguard the well-being of both current and future generations.


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After historic rainfall that caused devastating floods that killed more than 100 people in northwestern Europe and left more than 1,000 missing, officials and scientists are not shy about the main culprit: climate change.
In response to images of the ongoing disaster, German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze ad, “These are the warning signs of climate change that have now arrived in Germany.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the floods “a clear indication of climate change” and “something that really, really shows the urgency to act”.
That European officials draw a direct line between this extreme weather event and climate change may not come as such a surprise, given that it happened just a day after the European Union ad a broad set of proposals to tackle the climate emergency – proposals that risk meeting stiff opposition from many sectors, including less wealthy EU countries or those heavily dependent on fuel fossils.
A catastrophic weather event immediately following the announcement of these proposals certainly helps EU officials illustrate why such ambitious policies are needed.
But it’s not just officials who make the connection between flooding in Europe and global warming: even scientists who in the past have been reluctant to explicitly link an extreme weather event to climate change are clear that the change climate probably played a role here.
“The precipitation that we have experienced across Europe in the last few days is extreme weather conditions that are intensified by climate change – and will continue to increase with warming”, Friederike Otto of Environmental Change Institute of the University of Oxford told German newspaper DW.
This flooding in Germany today is difficult to understand. It really looks like the planet is trying to tell us something pic.twitter.com/o5vCEpk8mk
– Read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (@JoshuaPotash) July 16, 2021
This new desire to make these explicit links is in part due to advances in attribution science. As Umair Irfan of Vox explained, âThe researchers have a lot more data show how climate change affects the frequency and likelihood of heat waves (and the fires that follow them), ocean heat waves, droughts and intense storms.
In other words, the more extreme weather events that occur, the more opportunities scientists have to learn just how severe the impact of climate change really is.
How climate change can produce extreme precipitation
Germany’s national weather service said the two worst-affected states, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, recorded between 4 and 6 inches of rain within 24 hours between July 14 and July 15. According to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller, that equates to nearly as much as the region usually sees in a month.
There are two main links between climate change and extreme precipitation events like the one in northwestern Europe. First, like Hayley fowler, professor of climate change impacts at the School of Engineering at Newcastle University, told me that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. “According to Clausius-Clapeyron equation, a one degree increase in temperature has the potential to give you a 7 percent increase in precipitation intensity, âFowler said.
âThe second point is that the [Earthâs] the poles rise in temperature at two to three times the rate of the equator, âFowler said. This, she said, “weakens the mid-latitude jet stream, which is mostly over Europe. In summer and autumn, the weakening jet stream has a ripple effect. causing slower thunderstorms. So there is a double whammy of increasing intensity, but the storm also persists longer. ”
And that kind of double whammy can have devastating effects on land and infrastructure.
âIt all happened very quickly, and I have never experienced a situation that developed so quickly,â said Tanja Krok, head of the German Red Cross volunteer service in North Rhine-Westphalia. -Westphalia. She has worked in the region for almost 30 years. “In 2002, we had floods in eastern Germany, but it impacted one region and developed slowly, âKrok said.
The powerful current of water has also caused landslides, leaving some roads unusable if not completely washed away. âWe’ve never had a landslide before. We have the impression that our houses here are stable and fixed. It’s not often that you see houses collapsing, âKrok said.
Europe’s flood warning system is also to blame
In addition to climate change, experts also pointed to communication failures in the European flood awareness system.
German weather service issued warnings for the event Monday, three days before that actually happened. The hydrological services in Germany have also issued a warning. Given the number of warnings in place, experts said the problem was not so much forecasting as communicating the severe impacts of flooding to the general population.
âThe problem is not that there was no warning in place. There was. We now have some very good forecasting models. So for both of these events, as well as the flooding we saw in New York and London earlier in the week, flood warnings have been put in place for these. We knew that heavy rains were coming â, Linda speight, a flood forecasting specialist at the University of Reading in England, told me.
âMore than 100 people should not have died in a flood in Germany. This is not expected to happen in Western Europe in 2021, âshe said.
Speight, who works at the junction of hydrology and meteorology to understand how weather will cause flooding, believes the high toll could be due to people not understanding the seriousness of the warnings.
âIf you issue a weather warning that says there’s going to be 200 millimeters of rain tomorrow, that doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean much to me – and it’s my area of ââexpertise, so I doubt it means a lot to the general public, âSpeight said. âWe need to change the way we communicate warnings. For example, instead of saying, âThere will be 200 millimeters of rain,â we have to say, âThere will be a rapid rise in water levels, damage to properties, a risk to life.
And as extreme weather events like these become more common, learning to communicate danger effectively will be even more critical. âAll over the world we need to better prepare for these kinds of events,â said Speight. âAnyone can learn the lessons from the floods in Germany and see how to apply them to improve and be better prepared in their own country. “
But while early warning systems can help reduce loss of life, the ultimate answer is for humans to stop emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that heat the planet.
âThe climate is getting warmer, and it will continue to get warmer as long as we emit CO2. The last time I checked, we are still emitting huge amounts of CO2, âsaid Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, visiting professor at the University of Oxford who studies the impact of climate change on extreme weather events.


09/20/2016 - 09/22/2016
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The conference will bring together researchers, policy makers, businesses and members of civil society to understand the impact of 1.5 degree agreement. It will explore options for reaching the 1.5 degree target.
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MIAMI – Tropical cyclone Sandy revved back up to hurricane strength on Saturday as it churned toward the U.S. northeast coast where it threatens to become one of the worst storms in decades.
The U.S. National Weather Service said that is likely to make landfall early Tuesday near the Delaware coast, then hit two winter weather systems as it moves inland. That may create a hybrid monster storm that could bring nearly 30 centimetres) of rain, high winds and up to 2 feet (60 centimetres) of snow.
The late-season storm has been dubbed “Frankenstorm” by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm. Forecast models show it will have all the ingredients to morph into a so-called “super storm.”
On Saturday morning, forecasters said hurricane-force winds of 75 mph (120 kph) could be felt 100 miles (160 miles) away from the storm’s centre.
Sandy killed more than 40 people in the Caribbean, wrecked homes and knocked down trees and power lines. Early Saturday, the storm was about 350 miles (565 kilometres) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.
Up and down the east coast of the United States, people were cautioned to be prepared for days without electricity.
On Friday, forecasters in Canada warned that the storm will be so huge its reach will be felt from southern Ontario to the Maritimes.
“Everyone in the Maritimes, certainly everyone is southern Quebec and eastern and southern Ontario should be monitoring this storm,” said spokesman Bob Robichaud at the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Halifax.
“I know it’s a big area but it speaks to the size of this storm. The storm will be a very huge storm by the time it gets close to here … It’s getting a lot of attention and deservedly so.”
Robichaud said it was too early to predict the strength of the winds or rainfall amounts for Canadian territory, but he said the latest computer models suggest powerful gusts and heavy downpours are on the way for Monday and Tuesday.
He said southwestern Nova Scotia was expected to see the worst of the storm, but that prediction could change in the days ahead, particularly if Sandy heads farther south.
Robichaud warned the complex interaction of these three weather systems has produced an unusually scattered set of track forecasts. That means the predicting the progress of the storm has been more difficult that usual.
[npooyala src=”JlMWVkNjpRFGzVZcFnkq1tH_VdVQj9Dv” playlist=”yes”]
On the shore of New Jersey state beach towns began issuing voluntary evacuations and protecting boardwalks. Atlantic City casinos made contingency plans to close, and officials advised residents of flood-prone areas to stay with family or be ready to leave. Several governors declared states of emergency. Airlines said to expect cancellations and waived change fees for passengers who want to reschedule.
“It’s looking like a very serious storm that could be historic,” said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground.
With a rare mix of three big merging weather systems over a densely populated region, experts predict at least $1 billion in damage.
Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba and leaving 43 dead across the Caribbean, continued to barrel north. A wintry storm was moving across the U.S. from the west, and frigid air was streaming south from Canada.
If they meet Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predicted, they could create a big, wet mess that settles over the nation’s most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far west as Ohio.
Government forecasters said there is a 90% chance — up from 60% two days earlier — that the East Coast will get pounded.
“It’s going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people,” said James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center.
Some have compared the tempest to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a less populated area.
“The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I’m thinking a billion” this time, Masters said. “Yeah, it will be worse.”
The massive hurricane has continued to grow in size with tropical force winds extending 450 miles (725 km) from its center, government forecasters said.
[npooyala src=”JnZ2hkNjpRihI8Q6Do2OV5DhMoRuV_wt” playlist=”yes”]
Coming in the final weeks before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6, the storm was presenting a challenge to the campaigns of U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Romney canceled a rally scheduled for Sunday evening in Virginia Beach, Virginia, while Obama’s re-election campaign announced that Vice President Joe Biden had also canceled a Saturday trip to that city.
Ahead of the election, millions of Americans are taking advantage of early voting arrangements to cast their ballots. State officials said they had put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting.
In New York City, officials were considering shutting down the country’s largest mass transit system because they were worried the storm’s impact could cause flooding or high winds that might endanger subways and buses.
Much of Florida’s northeast coast was under a tropical storm warning and storm warnings and watches extended up the coast through most of South Carolina and North Carolina.
Along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, which jut out into the Atlantic, vacationers in large camper trailers and motor homes streamed off the barrier islands.
Many forecasters are warning that Sandy could be more destructive than last year’s Hurricane Irene, which caused billions of dollars in damage across the U.S. Northeast.
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The image of Dorothy clinging to Toto for dear life as she flees the twister that ominously snakes behind her are burned into my memory. Since childhood, I have been both awed and terrified by the power of the tornado in the classic movie, Wizard of Oz, based on Frank L. Baum’s novel. I devoured videos of storm chasers. As I poured over the information, I noticed that tornadoes seemed to become more frequent. A thought struck me: have tornadoes increased over time? Since I could not shake the nagging question I decided to do some digging.
History of the Oz Twister
I started my research with the history behind the tornado that caught my childish imagination.There was a single summer where so much of our region was affected by the tornadoes. Construction and concrete companies thrived, like my uncle’s company http://www.concretecarmichael.com ended up getting a lot of business from the resulting repairs needed after the damage the tornadoes caused. Now Baum’s Twister was based on twin tornadoes that annihilated the town of Irving, Kansas, in 1879. The twins crash into the unsuspecting town caused complete and utter destruction. The Irving tornadoes were a great tragedy for the region, but they did not strike anyone as being part of an increasing trend. Rather the storm appeared to many as an unfortunate product of nature.
Rise in Outbreaks
As studies progressed from 1879, meteorologists in the United States concluded that, on average, there are about 20 days of storm outbreaks that yield tornadoes. This number has stayed consistent throughout the decades. So how come tornadoes seem to happen more than usual? One of the explanations is an increase in the amateur footage. Nowadays, an ordinary person armed with a cellphone and vehicle can become a storm chaser. As a result, instead of one official video, there are 10 or 20. Meteorologists also admit that even though the days have remained steady the number of tornadoes that appear within those days has increased over time. So instead of 10 tornadoes happening in one outbreak, there are now 15 or 20. Not only is the number increasing, but the intensity is as well. The most devastating tornadoes in recent memory have all reached F-3 and beyond.
For example, Pilger, Nebraska, entertained two twin tornadoes in 2014. In an uncanny impersonation of the Wizard of Oz, one of the twins blew through a residential area picking up an entire house and depositing it in a field. This tornado was officially recorded as being an F-4 which is the second strongest rating on the meteorological F-scale.
Meteorologists are intrigued at the increase in sightings and intensity that contemporary tornadoes exhibit. However, they do not have any concrete or specific explanations for this phenomenon. Their working hypothesis is that somehow the production of greenhouse gases (i.e. global warming) is affecting the atmosphere which increases the number of tornadoes per outbreak. Meteorologists are confident that this is a major contributing factor.
Whether it is on the silver screen or in my backyard, tornadoes still hold an exciting albeit terrifying fascination for me. My only hope is that, unlike Dorothy, my house stays where it is.


By Verity Payne
25 Jul 2012 - Over several days at the
start of July this year nearly the whole surface of the Greenland
ice sheet thawed, according to new NASA satellite data.
Typically around half of the ice sheet's surface melts during
summer, so scientists were surprised when by July 12th this year an
estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed.
Extent of surface melt over
Greenland's ice sheet on July 8 (left) and July 12 (right).
In the image, the areas classified as "probable melt" (light
pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite
detected surface melting. The areas classified as "melt" (dark
pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected
surface melting. Credit: Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and
Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory.
It's worth pointing out that this satellite data only indicates
widespread thawing at the surface of the ice - the Greenland ice
sheet reaches a depth of around three kilometres at its thickest
point. Also, much of the melt water over the thickest parts of the
ice sheet refreezes quickly, so it's only near the coast that some
of this meltwater is lost to the ocean.
The news has received
media coverage, although some media outlets are not
too sure whether the unexpected surface melting is linked to recent
climate change. The Washington Post, for example, says:
"The unusual amount of melt [...] has
highlighted the extent to which warming temperatures are affecting
But rather confusingly continues:
"Researchers said it is too early to
connect the new readings with broader climate change."
So - is the melting down to climate change?
The NASA scientists who collected the data suggest the
unexpected surface melting might be down to recent weather
patterns, noting that the unusual melting happened when a high
pressure ridge, or 'heat dome' was over Greenland.
Interestingly this Greenland high pressure ridge may be linked
to the UK's decidedly inclement weather at the start of July, as BBC Weather explains:
"An unusually strong area of high
pressure over Greenland has been pushing a northwesterly jet stream
over the British Isles, [...] bringing us the wettest April and
June on record and much wetter weather than normal in July,
particularly in the southwest."
Scientists from the US Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) think
that this year's northern hemisphere weather patterns also contributed to above-average temperature
in parts of the region and low Arctic sea ice extent this year.
But are these weather patterns down to climate change? It has
been suggested that the decline in Arctic sea ice associated with
man-made climate change may be linked to northern hemisphere
weather patterns in winter, and that earlier melt of snow on Arctic and sub-Arctic
land in the spring may be affecting summer weather patterns.
It's early days for these theories, and other natural
influences, such as solar activity, may also be playing a role. As
is often the case with linking particular events and wider change
in the climate system, the jury is still out.
Is the melting unprecedented?
The NASA press release is headlined 'Satellites See
Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt', and says:
"For several days this month,
Greenland's surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any
time in more than 30 years of satellite observations"
Jay Zwally, a glaciologist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight
Center, told the Guardian "I think it's fair to say that this
[melting] is unprecedented."
Ruth Mottram, glaciologist at the Danish Meteorological
Institute, seems to suggest that it's a close run thing though, tweeting:
"[I]nterestingly, 2002 had almost as
wide a melt extent (briefly) but 2007, 2010 and poss [sic] 2011
bigger in total melt terms"
The satellite record only goes back for three decades - beyond
that information about how the ice sheet has behaved comes from ice
cores. Lora Koenig, glaciologist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight
Center, suggests the melting may not be unprecedented
if you consier the ice core record:
"Ice cores from Summit show that melting
events of this type occur about once every 150 years on average.
With the last one happening in 1889, this event is right on
So the description of 'unprecedented' needs to be qualified - on
the latest satellite measurements it's certainly the case, but
longer-term records suggest this kind of melt may have happened
Should we be concerned?
Recent research suggests that surface melting can
affect how much sunlight the ice sheet can reflect, so the sort of
widespread surface thawing that we've seen this year could
potentially lead to further warming in the region.
But, while the melting could have some impacts on future
warming, it remains to be seen whether this year's melting is a one
off or the start of a trend. As Koenig explains:
"[I]f we continue to observe melting
events like this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome."
This article originally appeared in
the Carbon Brief and is reprinted here with
the kind permission of the publisher.


Or is Cloaking or Or HAARP or Cern At work …. testing stuff, there spreading around?
An iridescent, multi-hued cloud phenomenon was recently spotted in Costa Rica skies, and residents were left awestruck and mystified.
The spectacle in the sky was reported this past Tuesday afternoon in numerous cities including, San Jose, Parrita, Pavas, Escazu and Hatillo. Coincidentally, the sighting occurred on the country’s Independence Day.
Many witnesses took to social media to post photos and video of the luminous cloud formation, with some even noting that it looked like an “end of times” scene.
ESCAZU, Costa Rica, Sept. 17 (UPI) — A colorful cloud formation over Costa Rica was labeled by some as a sign of the rapture, but experts said the phenomenon is known as “cloud iridescence.”
The cloud formation, which appeared in photos and video posted to social media, was reported Tuesaday afternoon in the sky over San Jose, Parrita, Pavas, Escazu and Hatillo.
One woman who posted a video of the formation to YouTube said the cloud over Escazu looked “like the end of times.”


Fourth International Conference on Earth System Modelling (4ICESM)
The 4th International Conference on Earth System Modelling (4ICESM) will be held at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. 4ICESM will advance discourse around four themes related to the World Climate Research Programme's Grand Science Challenges.
The four themes are:
- Clouds, circulation and climate sensitivity
- Decadal prediction and attribution
- Modelling past climate changes
- Carbon feedbacks in the climate system


Beki used to live in Croyden. Here's how she managed the high pollution along with ashtma and an active lifestyle.
The topic of air quality is one that is constantly under discussion. Many of us who live in big cities have heard our local politicians declare how they are going to tackle the problem. Yet, despite this, the United Kingdom is not currently meeting its targets on limiting air pollution according to Asthma UK. This means that many of the pollutants that can affect asthma, such as nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter continue to put people at risk.
Particulate matter is made up of various sized particles and comes from a variety of sources, including the burning of fossil fuels, road vehicles, construction sites as well as natural sources such as sea spray and organic fires. The majority of nitrogen dioxide pollution comes from traffic fumes, therefore it tends to be the case that air quality is worse near main roads and in built-up areas of towns and cities.
Whilst it’s not just asthmatics who are affected by high levels of pollution, the risks are definitely higher for those who generally struggle to breathe, without the additional factors that can irritate airways and trigger asthma symptoms.
I used to live in a flat in Croydon in South London, an area with high pollution levels. It was incredibly tough as an asthmatic runner and cyclist to continue exercising outside when the air quality was so poor. Pollution can make asthma worse for a lot of people and I’d definitely find that when levels were high my chest felt tight, I was wheezing more, and my nose and throat were scratchy. It didn’t stop me from taking part in the sports I loved, but I did try to tailor and time my workouts to minimise the effects.
Tips for dealing with high pollution
Check out air quality alerts before setting off
These are often included in weather reports on TV, or you can visit the DEFRA pollution forecast website. Still, sunny days can cause pollution to linger creating a smog effect, whilst high winds and atmospheric changes bring pollutants from Southern Europe and dust from the Sahara.
Plan routes that avoid busy main roads
When cycling, walking or jogging through the city, try and avoid the busy roads. Think about different routes you can take, so you’re not exposing yourself to such high levels. I much prefer trail running to road running, and even in the city will try to head towards canal towpaths or routes away from the traffic. However, if pollution is reported to be particularly high, consider exercising indoors until they drop to safer levels.
Try to head out for your workout early in the day
Pollution levels are usually higher later on in the afternoons and evenings as it’s had a chance to build up.
Seasonal changes, fires and cigarette smoke
As well as hot, muggy summer days when the lingering pollution haze hangs over the city, the autumn can be also be a challenge for me. Some people start to use stoves or fires to heat their homes, and the smoke particles escape into the air outside, which definitely makes my asthma worse. It’s frustrating because I love cosying up around a wood-burning stove, and Bonfire Night is great fun! However, I’m sure you’ve noticed after a public firework display how much extra smoke is in the air, causing a brief but noticeable spike in localised air pollution. And don’t even get me started on cigarette smoke - the day the smoking ban came into effect in public places was a great day for asthmatics!
Whether future changes to policy will have an effect on air quality and minimise the impact of pollution on those with asthma remains to be seen. In London, the new Ultra Low Emission Zone was introduced on 8 April, with tighter emission standards for vehicles driving within the central area of the city. Since London has the highest rates of nitrogen dioxide pollution of all the European capital cities this was not a day too soon.
For me, any changes that can help to reduce the traffic on the roads is a good thing, with many asthmatics finding that traffic pollution is a particular problem that discourages them from exercising and walking in congested areas. However, we also need to consider what we’re doing to help reduce exposure to air pollution in these areas, such as increased pedestrianisation and infrastructure for cyclists that enables them to ride away from the traffic.
NPS-IE-NP-00229 May 2021


What Is Plasma?
Plasma is one of the four common states of matter – solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Plasma is an electrically charged gas. Because plasma particles have an electrical charge, they are affected by electrical and magnetic fields. This is the main difference between a gas and a plasma.
The Long-Term Strategy of the United States: Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050
Published by the United States Department of State and the United States Executive Office of the President, Washington DC. November 2021.
Carbon Negative Shot
The U.S. Department of Energy launched Carbon Negative Shot—an all-hands-on-deck call for innovation in carbon dioxide removal pathways that will capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it at gigaton scales for less than $100/net metric ton of carbon dioxide-equivalent.
The Paris Agreement
To tackle climate change and its negative impacts, world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris reached a breakthrough on 12 December 2015: the historic Paris Agreement. The Agreement sets long-term goals to guide all nations toward substantially reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Global Methane Pledge
The Global Methane Pledge is a joint agreement by over 100 countries to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, which could eliminate over 0.2˚C warming by 2050.
EPA Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions and Sinks
EPA develops an annual report, called the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (Inventory), that tracks U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks by source, economic sector, and greenhouse gas going back to 1990. This annual report provides a comprehensive accounting of total greenhouse gas emissions for all man-made sources in the United States.
U.S. Department of Energy on Natural Gas Flaring and Venting
The purpose of this report by the Office of Fossil Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy is to inform the states and other stakeholders on natural gas flaring and venting regulations, the level and types of restrictions and permissions, and potential options available to economically capture and utilize natural gas, if the economics warrant.
EPA on Pneumatic Devices
This document is one of the lessons learned resources developed by the Natural Gas STAR Program to promote the use of technologies and best practices that reduce methane emissions. This resource discusses options for reducing methane emissions from pneumatic devices in the natural gas industry.
EPA on Compressor Rod Packing Systems
This document is one of the lessons learned resources developed by the Natural Gas STAR Program to promote the use of technologies and best practices that reduce methane emissions. This resource discusses reducing methane emissions from compressor rod packing systems.
Why Natural Gas Is Still an Important Energy Source
A view of energy production by source and energy consumption by fuel, from 1990 through (projected) 2050. Published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.


The smelting of aluminium is a very energy intensive process – and over 80 per cent of smelting greenhouse gas emissions are indirect (electricity-related) emissions. The remaining emissions come from direct (on-site) emissions plus the emissions associated with the production of alumina.
The greenhouse gas intensity of Australian primary aluminium production, not including emissions from alumina refining which are considered separately, remained steady at 15.6 tonnes of CO2-e per tonne of aluminium in 2011.
In 2011 direct (process) emissions of greenhouse gas (PFCs, carbon inputs, fuels) were 1.87 tonnes of CO2-e per tonne of aluminium – 0.4 per cent lower than in 2010 and 63 per cent lower than in 1990. PFC emissions rose slightly to 0.14 tonnes of CO2-e per tonne of aluminium, a 96 per cent improvement over 1990 levels.
Total direct greenhouse gas emissions from Australian aluminium smelters were reported as 3.67 million tonnes CO2-e in 2011, up 0.7 per cent compared to 2010 but still well down on the 1990 level of 6.26 million tonnes.
Emissions from the purchase of electricity fell 0.2 per cent on an intensity basis over 2010. Indirect emission levels are closely linked to production and are therefore sensitive to economic conditions.
Since 1990 aluminium production has increased by 58 per cent whilst total indirect emissions have risen by only 34 per cent. On an intensity basis, indirect emissions were down 15 per cent on 1990 levels.
Indirect emissions also arise from the consumption of alumina in the smelting process, with around two tonnes of alumina required to produce one tonne of aluminium. At current rates this is equivalent to around 1.4 tonnes CO2-e per tonne of aluminium produced. These emissions are included in our reporting of alumina emissions and not added to the aluminium results to avoid double counting.


- Global restrictions put in place COVID-19 pandemic saw carbon dioxide emissions fall to their lowest level since 2006.
- The drop was highest in early April, when regions responsible for 89% of global emissions were under some form of lockdown.
The amount of CO2 being released by human activity each day fell by as much as 17% during the height of the coronavirus crisis in early April, a new study shows.
This means daily emissions temporarily fell to levels last seen in 2006, the study says. In the first four months of the year, it estimates that global emissions from burning fossil fuels and cement production were cut by 1,048m tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2), or 8.6%, compared with 2019 levels.
The research projects a decline of up to 2,729MtCO2 (7.5%) in 2020 as a whole, depending on how the crisis plays out. It is the first to have been through the peer-review process and is broadly in line with an early estimate for China published by Carbon Brief in February, as well as separate global estimates published last month by Carbon Brief and the International Energy Agency.
Have you read?
- India’s CO2 emissions fall for first time in four decades amid coronavirus
- The European Green Deal must be at the heart of the COVID-19 recovery
- E-scooters could be part of ‘the new normal’ for commuters in the UK. Here’s why
Today’s study also marks the first-ever attempt to quantify CO2 emissions on a daily basis, for the world and for 69 individual countries, in close to real time. Until now, annual CO2 emissions data has typically been published months or even years later.
A publicly available daily estimate of global or national CO2 emissions would be “incredibly useful, particularly for motivating policy action and pressure”, another researcher tells Carbon Brief.
The ongoing coronavirus crisis has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world and seen the introduction of severe restrictions on movement in many countries.
These lockdowns have included “stay at home” orders, border closures and other measures that have had direct effects on the use of energy and, consequently, on the release of CO2 emissions.
As the crisis has unfolded, so too have attempts to quantify its impact on CO2 emissions. These efforts have been challenging, however, because real-time CO2 emissions data does not exist.
The annual emissions inventories that countries submit to the UN take years to compile – and even these are estimates rather than direct measurements.
Greenhouse gas emissions are estimated using a variety of methods, often based on “activity data”. This might be the number of miles being driven, the amount of electricity generated or even – in the case of nitrous oxide, which is used as a propellant – via cream consumption.
Today’s study, published in Nature Climate Change, combines activity data for six sectors with a “confinement index” of lockdown measures in each country or region over time.
This allows for an estimate of changes in daily global CO2 emissions in January-April 2020, relative to the 100MtCO2 released on an average day in 2019.
During peak confinement in individual countries, daily CO2 emissions fell by 26% on average, the paper says. However, the size of this effect is reduced at a global level, because not all countries were under the most severe type of lockdown at the same time.
At the peak of the crisis in early April, regions responsible for 89% of daily CO2 emissions were under some form of lockdown, the paper says. Daily global CO2 emissions fell to 83MtCO2 (-17%, with a range of -11 to -25%) on 7 April, equivalent to levels last seen in 2006.
In a press release, lead author Prof Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia’s Tyndall Centre (who will be a panelist at Carbon Brief’s webinar on 21 May), says:
“Population confinement has led to drastic changes in energy use and CO2 emissions. These extreme decreases are likely to be temporary, however, as they do not reflect structural changes in the economic, transport, or energy systems.”
In order to estimate daily global CO2 emissions, the researchers use a novel approach that combines sectoral activity data with a country-by-country confinement index.
The paper looks at six sectors, shown in the chart below according to their share of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement. These are electricity and heat (44%); industry (22%); surface transport (20%); homes (6%); public buildings and commerce (4%); and aviation (3%).
Notably, this split highlights the limited potential for individual actions to radically reduce global emissions, in contrast to the societal choices that govern CO2 from electricity and industry.
The split in global CO2 emissions, shown above, is then broken down further for each of 69 countries, 50 US states and 30 Chinese provinces, which account for 97% of the global total. This gives industrial CO2 emissions in Italy, for example, on an average day in 2019.
The paper then uses 669 datasets, covering each of these sectors over time, and classified according to the level of confinement in place at each point. For example, this might be daily reports on mobility, traffic and congestion to measure “activity” for surface transport.
This daily data is then adjusted to remove effects unrelated to coronavirus, such as the mild northern hemisphere winter or the day of the week.
Under the highest level of confinement, surface transport “activity” fell by 50% on average, the paper finds. This is shown in green in the chart, below, where each dot represents a single data point, open circles show the average and the horizontal lines show the variability between datasets. The chart also shows changes in activity for electricity, industry, homes and aviation.
For electricity, the paper looks at total daily demand in Europe, the US and India, finding an average 15% reduction in demand under strict lockdown. In industry, the paper looks at daily coal use in China reported by Carbon Brief and weekly reports on steel production in the US.
For homes, the paper draws on figures from UK smart meters. And for aviation – the most strongly affected sector – it uses data on domestic and international departures around the world.
As the chart above shows, the analysis relies on relatively sparse information for industry, whereas activity levels in transport draw on a wider range of datasets.
The team then uses the average change in activity, for each sector and level of confinement, to build up an estimate of daily CO2 emissions around the world.
For example, on days when Turkey is under the strictest lockdown, the analysis assumes that its power-sector CO2 emissions would fall by 15% compared with the average in 2019 – and those from surface transport by 50%.
When Turkey shifts from “confinement index three”, the strictest controls, down to level two, its power-sector emissions would be 5% below usual levels and transport 40% lower. For each confinement level, the same percentage reductions are assumed to apply to all countries.
This approach means that the team only needed to know when each country, state or province changed its coronavirus lockdown from one “confinement level” to another, as well as the daily average level of CO2 emissions from each sector in 2019.
Putting all of these countries and lockdown levels together, the paper finds that the cut in daily global CO2 emissions peaked at -17% on 7 April, shown in the figure, below. Across the first four months of 2020, emissions fell by 1,048MtCO2 (8.6%), compared with 2019 levels.
Within this global total, the largest impacts were in China, where emissions fell by an estimated 242MtCO2 in the first four months of the year, followed by the US (-207MtCO2), Europe (-123MtCO2) and India (-98MtCO2).
Dr Glen Peters, research director at Norwegian climate institute Cicero and one of the study authors, tells Carbon Brief that while the approach was designed around the current crisis, the team has gathered the “raw material” to make daily CO2 estimates on an ongoing basis. He says:
“We have discussed more ‘real-time’ estimates for sometime and there are many advantages. We are illustrating one advantage with our paper to see the consequences of particular policy interventions in near real time.”
But Peters notes that some of the daily data they used – the urban congestion index series from satnav maker TomTom, for example – is only being made publicly available during the current crisis and might be made private again in the future. He also asks whether daily data is truly needed, or whether weekly or even monthly estimates might be sufficient for scientists and policymakers.
“I think daily CO2 estimates would be incredibly useful, particularly for motivating policy action and pressure…Climate change already has the classic long-termism problem, but this is exacerbated by the fact that we get a figure on CO2 emissions published once a year, as a marker of how each country is doing.”
If daily CO2 estimates were publicly available for all countries, it would become possible to actively track progress, she says, adding: “You can have a counter on the news, or an app or dashboard on your phone – just like we do with other metrics like stock markets.”
Today’s research is not the first to analyse the CO2 impacts of the coronavirus crisis, although it is the first to have completed its passage through peer review.
Another paper, which is currently in review, also attempts to estimate daily global CO2 emissions in close to real time. This work finds the coronavirus crisis cut global emissions by -542MtCO2 below 2019 levels in the first quarter of 2020, similar to the -530MtCO2 figure from today’s paper.
In mid-February, Carbon Brief published an analysis showing that emissions in China were temporarily cut by 200MtCO2 (25%) over a four-week period, during the height of the restrictions. The new study finds that the cut in Chinese emissions peaked at 24%.
Today’s research also includes estimates of the emissions impact in 2020 as a whole, based on three scenarios for the length of lockdowns around the world. These entail CO2 emissions falling by between -4% and -8%, depending on how the crisis plays out. This range is consistent with estimates published in April by Carbon Brief (-6%) and the International Energy Agency (-8%).


The Montreal Protocol was created by some 200 nations to deal with the effect of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on the ozone hole. It seems to be working. CFC use has virtually ended and the ozone hole has finally started to heal.
Where does the Law of Unintended Consequences come in? When CFCs were invented, it was thought they were inert. Years later it was discovered that when a CFC molecule got high enough in the atmosphere, ultraviolet light from the sun would knock off a chlorine molecule which would then react with ozone, and break it down. Hence, CFCs got blamed for the growth of the Antarctic ozone hole.
Since the Montreal protocol was implemented, virtually all CFCs have been replaced with a family of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs were thought to be safe until someone noticed that HFCs have a huge and unintended consequence: they are extremely potent greenhouse gasses (GHG).
HFCs are 100-3000 times more potent than CO2. The most abundant HFC, HFC-134a, is 1,300 times more potent than CO2.
Today, the small amount of HFCs in the atmosphere keeps them from playing a large role in global warming. However, HFCs are very stable; what is already in the atmosphere may be there for hundreds of years. HFC-134a, for example, has a lifetime of about 13 years in the atmosphere. That’s not as long as CO2, which can last for tens of thousands of years.
HFCs are created and released more and more often as they are manufactured, as air conditioning units leak or are scrapped without the gas being recovered.
This week, representatives of nearly 200 members of the Montreal Protocol met in Kigali, Rwanda to address HFCs.
There is little about the conference in the US mainstream media. Google searches (and I’m a fair dinkum searcher) showed pre-conference coverage only by Voice of America, Reuters, Vox, Physics.org, the Daily Mail, and Reuters UK.
“The Washington Post” ran in July a preview of an earlier conference in Vienna.
CNN posted a summary of the Rwanda agreement on Saturday, 15 October 2016, within minutes of the Kigali agreement being reached.
A search for comments by Presidential Candidates yielded zero hits for Clinton, and from Trump, only an old diatribe on hairspray, which contained several factual errors.
By passing the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, member nations agreed to reduce HFCs. The reduction is expected to protect the environment from what was predicted to be a 0.5 degree Centigrade rise in overall global temperature. That’s just shy of one degree Fahrenheit.
But what will replace HFCs, and will we see more unintended consequences?
At present, the candidates include carbon dioxide and ammonia, and a family of chemicals composed of hydrogen, fluorine, and carbon, called hydrofloroolefins (HFOs). They are short-lived if released into the atmosphere. One known unintended consequence is that one member of the family breaks down to trifluoracetic acid (TFA), which is then washed out by precipitation. The ultimate effect is not known, but it is judged to be negligible compared to natural sources of TFA.
Let’s keep our guard up (and our fingers crossed).
All references were accessed on 2016-10-15
Registered Curmudgeon, scientist, skeptic, humanist, and writer.


More heavy rain on the way
28th March 2022
I know it's probably the last thing you want to hear, but we're about to get pretty wet again.
The Bureau is predicting more than 100mm of rain in the local area by the end of the week and into the weekend, starting tonight. Not good given the ground is so wet already!
Just incidentally, Bureau data shows that of the 87 days so far this year, we've had rain on 54 of them. Quite extraordinary.
The average annual rainfall in Lake Macquarie is usually around 1100mm, but in the first three months of the year we've already had 742mm in the Bureau's gauge at Cooranbong, and that's before we get this week's deluge. Worse, the Bureau is predicting a 65% chance of above-average rainfall between now and June so it's highly likely we'll record a year's worth of rain before we're halfway through 2022.
As always, please stay safe on the roads over the next few days, do not drive through floodwater or go near swollen creeks, keep an ear or an eye on the news and monitor NSW SES Lake Macquarie Unit on Facebook.
(Pic courtesy of Newcastle Herald)


According to Environment Canada, good amounts of snow are forecast for Sunday, which could leave up to thirty centimeters in the Gaspé sector.
Since last November, winter sports enthusiasts have not been pampered since the little precipitation and the warmth of Christmas explain the low amount of snow on the ground at present.
However, a system is approaching for the weekend, as Simon Legault of Environment Canada points out:
According to his observations, the typical freezing temperatures in January and February do not seem to appear on the barometer of his body:
In recent years, a few periods of warm weather have spoiled the snow conditions on the ground in the region, which could happen again this winter on the Gaspé tip. Simon Legault again:


I caught wind of this YouTube video on Wednesday. This is a storm that hit the Helsinki and Pori regions of Finland at around 16:00 on 08 August, 2010. I'll let the video speak for itself.
Now I love a good thunderstorm, but I'm not going to lie - seeing that storm cell heading my way would have evoked a serious flight response in my sympathetic nervous system. I chose that particular clip because it shows how fast the storm rolled in, but there was a lot of footage taken that day. You can catch equally scary clips here, here, and here. According to the Helsingin Sanomat, the storm was only 5 minutes long, but managed to cause significant property damage, bring down trees, ground airplanes, close roads and railways, cut off power to 70,000 households, and put several people in the hospital, two of which were in critical condition at the time of admittance. That's insane. And what's even more insane is the fact that this is the fifth "super" storm in just as many months to have torn through the country, each time with similar results. Does that have anything to do with luck? I doubt it seriously, but for the sake of the occasion lets just say it does.
In reality, the situation (as extreme as it may seem) is not really outside of the norm. In a Helsinki Times interview, Asko Hutila from the Climate Service at the Finnish Meteorological Institute says that while the frequency of storms this August seems high, in terms of the number of storms during a typical Finnish summer it is not out of the ordinary. Past recent summers with a low occurrence of storms make it look like Finland is getting hit particularly bad this year. But it only looks that way, and is generally considered on par for the area. Hutila goes on to say that the intensity of the storms is also to be expected, as high temperatures and warm air masses coming in from Russia are creating massive amounts of energy that have to go somewhere.
Just yesterday morning, I was woken by a massive thunderstorm over my home in the Washington, DC area. It was powerful enough that I could feel the vibrations from the thunder and lightning resonating through the house. The storm came with massive amounts of rain and high winds. Enough to immediately flood the streets and bring down tree limbs, making the commute into work rather eventful. While thunderstorms are common here in the summer as well, I can't help but feel that in recent years they have gotten a lot more frequent and intense. And while there is no evidence directly linking global climate change to any of these storms, there is certainly a correlation with this summers record breaking high temperatures, and the frequency at which these "extreme" weather events are taking place. Theory perhaps, but certainly not unfounded in proper science. Now where are all the pundits who cited the blizzards in the DC this past winter as proof that "global warming" wasn't real? I bet you aren't going to find them defending their position so fervently in this weather.
But before I go off on that tangent, let me go ahead and wrap things up. Superstitions and luck aside, these storms are no joke. They are stunning displays of the true forces of nature that continually shape and change our planet. And as devastating as they can be, I'm always excited to be stuck in the middle of one. To those celebrating, happy Friday the 13th. May your day be filled with terrible, terrible luck.


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2023-12- 29Revised Enforcement Rules of “Climate Change Response Act” Announced
2023-12- 06Revised Regulations Announced to Enhance Emission Certification and Inspection Capacities
2023-12- 06Important Regulations Announced to Ready Taiwan for Carbon Pricing Era
2023-12- 06Power Generators and Large Manufacturers Targeted for Carbon Fee Collection for Now
2023-12- 06Carbon Pricing System Ready to Launch with Diverse Tools to Promote Effective Carbon Reduction
Climate Change Affairs
Climate change is a global challenge all humans face. To accelerate Taiwan's national emission reduction and reinforce Taiwan's ability to respond to climate change, the EPA proposed the "Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act" amendment bill, amending its name to "Climate Change Response Act" (also known as the "Climate Act"). The amended "Climate Change Response Act" includes the Net Zero by 2050 goal, established ministerial responsibilities and authorities, added just transition, strengthened emission control and incentives to encourage emission reduction, dedicated uses for carbon fees collected, added a chapter on climate change adaptation, included carbon footprint and product labelling, and reinforced transparency and civic engagement mechanisms.
- Foundations of Climate Legislation
- National Climate Change Action Guidelines
- National Determined Contribution (NDC)
- Periodic Regulatory Goals
- Sectoral GHG Reduction Action Programs
- Local GHG Reduction Action Programs
- National GHG Inventory Report and National Communication
- Net-Zero Pathway and Key Strategies
The government and private secor are dedicated to promoting greenhouse gas emission management and reduction. To understand industry greenhouse gas emission realities, the "Greenhouse Gas Emission Examination Process Guidelines" and online emissions estimation tool were created to help industries consolidate and calculate greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, to ensure the quality of greenhouse gas emission examinations conducted by examination organizations, certification systems generally used by the international community are adopted and accreditation organizations are employed to accredit examination organizations.
Implement carbon pricing as an important strategy to reduce emissions. To accelerate reduction, the economic incentive of carbon fees was added to the Climate Act. Fees collected will be dedicated to works related to greenhouse gas reduction, low carbon and negative emissions technology and industry development, and greenhouse gas reduction technology investment subsidies and awards so as to promote greenhouse gas reduction and encourage low-carbon economy development, promoting the steady reduction of emissions at a national level and advance towards net-zero transition goals.
To reinforce Taiwan's ability to respond to climate change and build a natinoal climate change adaptation mechanic, the MOENV proposed for the Executive Yuan's approval "National Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan (2023-2026)," which includes seven major areas for impact adaptation. Through inter-ministerial consolidation and implementation, the plan aims to enhance Taiwan's basic overall ability to respond to climate change and maximize implementation efficiency and performance.
Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting System
This system consolidates greenhouse gas emission examination and auditing. Registered businesses may report yearly greenhouse gas emission data through a portal, while MOENV-approved "Certified Accreditation Organizations," "Certified Examination Organizations" and other information are available for businesses. In addition, the system provides "Greenhouse Gas Emission Examination Process Guidelines," "Estimation Tool," and "Greenhouse Gas Examination Registration Form" for businesses to stay informed about greenhouse gas examination.
- Greenhouse Gas Emission Examination
- Greenhouse Gas Auditing Organizations
Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reduction Offset Information Platform
The platform aims to make transparent reduction quotas and thus encouraging businesses to take action to manage climate change risks. It also aims to facilitate greenhouse gas reduction collaboratino between different sectors by publishing information about reduction needs and offset needs stemming from emission increases in environmental evaluations.
- Registered Cases
- Assigned-Quota Cases
Carbon Footprint Information Platform
In order to assist enterprises in calculating product carbon footprints, it continuously builds and updates basic raw material carbon footprint emission factors and product category rule (PCR), provides enterprises to apply for Product Carbon Footprint Labels(PCF Labels), and also discloses the carbon footprints of products with PCF Labels. It's available for public information.
- Carbon Footprint
- Carbon Footprint Label
- Product Category Rules
- Carbon Footprint Emission Factor
Multifunctional Smart Rain Garden--Water Retention and Cooling Monitoring System
As its name suggests, a "rain garden" is a garden that collects rain. As the climate changes, percipitation patterns are affected and strong showers have become more frequent, raising chances for floods to occur in cities or low areas. By making use of and transforming empty plots of land and parks into gardens to collect rain, the environment can be beautified while the water can become a useful resource.


The U.N. chief told reporters that "this is even more significant because the previous hottest month, July 2016, occurred during one of the strongest El Nino's ever," which was not the case this year.
An El Nino is a natural warming of the ocean that once it interacts with the atmosphere often warms up the globe and changes rainfall and temperature patterns, making some places wetter and some places drier.
Guterres said the latest weather data, including temperature-shattering records from New Delhi and Anchorage to Paris, Santiago, Adelaide, Australia and the Arctic Circle, means the world is on track for the period from 2015 to 2019 "to be the five hottest years on record."
He warned that if all nations don't take immediate action to tackle climate change, extreme weather events happening now "are just the tip of the iceberg."
"And the iceberg is also rapidly melting," Guterres said.
Arctic Sea ice is already near record low levels, he said, and the European heat wave last month has raised temperatures in the Arctic and Greenland by 10 to 15 degrees Celsius.
"Preventing irreversible climate disruption is the race of our lives and for our lives," Guterres said. "It is a race we can — and must — win."


KETV NewsWatch 7 is your weather source for the latest forecast, radar, alerts, closings and video forecast. Visit KETV NewsWatch 7 today.
Omaha, NE Weather Forecast. 11:14 PM CDT Wed Jun 17 2020. REST OF TONIGHT - Increasing clouds. Lows in the lower 70s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. THURSDAY - Mostly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning, then showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. South.
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Air pollution in the office can have an extremely negative effect on people’s cognitive functions and their ability to concentrate. This is reported in a new study that was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
In their study, researchers observed 300 office workers in 6 countries. The participants were between 18 and 65 years old, they worked at least three days a week, each had a permanent place in the office. The workplace of each person was equipped with sensors that recorded in real time the air pollution with PM2.5 particles, the concentration of carbon dioxide, the temperature and humidity of the air. In scientific work, carbon dioxide has been a marker of the quality of room ventilation.
Also, all participants had an application on their phones, with which they periodically passed cognitive tests, assessing the speed of thinking, ability to focus and the state of working memory.
The study found that thinking speed and ability to concentrate slowed down when the concentration of PM2.5 and carbon dioxide in the air increased. The participants’ working memory was influenced only by carbon dioxide indicators. As both metrics increased, the participants performed slower and worse on the tests.


7 Amazing Paid iPhone Apps on Sale for Free Free
Did you spend over $1,000 on a new iPhone X and now you don’t have any money left for apps to fill it with? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’ve rounded up the best paid iPhone and iPad app sales of the day, and you’ll find seven freebies below. Hurry though, because these sales could end at any moment.
1 Pixel Weather – Forecast
Simple and cute weather forecast application with pixel style 🙂
– Display current location weather, including temperature, relative humidity
, probability of precipitation, precipitation, wind direction & speed;
– Display widget;
– Display future six days weather forecast;
– Display current location AQI (Air Quality Index) / PM2.5 / PM10 / SO2 / CO …;
– Display and change Celsius temperature and Fahrenheit temperature;
– Display current location detailed street or city information;
– Add and display Widget function.
If you like this application please kindly give 5 stars and it will keep updating with more features. Any feedback and recommendation please click Email icon in settings.
Next version features:
– Add customize cities globally and display its current weather;
– Add weather forecast for all cities;
– Add more air quality data;
– Add air quality data for all cities.


Sustainability Site Air Quality
Washington State University is committed to minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Facilities Services and Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) work together to ensure stationary air emission sources are operated efficiently using the best available technology and procedures. These efforts have reduced air emissions even though the number of students, employee, and building square footage continues to grow.
Improving Air Quality at WSU
WSU has an Air Operating Permit (AOP) limiting emissions from stationary air pollution sources on the Pullman campus. EH&S oversees the AOP through training, emission testing, and record keeping to ensure WSU’s emissions remain within the established limits. WSU is continually looking for ways to minimize air emissions by installing improved air emission control equipment, improving energy efficiency on campus, eliminating ozone depleting refrigerants, and upgrading campus car fleets with more fuel efficient or electric vehicles.
Why is this Important?
The air we breathe is made of a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and and introduction of air pollutants. Our air quality varies greatly due to the proper balance of these elements. Humans and our living conditions have greatly impacted this balance over time. This impact is often negative due to our use of fossil fuels which release contaminants when they burn, adding to the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere. While the use of these fuels is hard to avoid, there are some simple, small changes that can be made to reduce our negative impact on our own air.
Air is one of the main components to the act of sustaining life itself. Without clean, breathable air, a multitude of disastrous things would happen: people would begin to become sick and disease would spread, plants wouldn’t be able to correctly photosynthesize, food quality would diminish, and climate change would exponentially become even more of a problem.
How You can Help- Reduce Your Carbon Footprint!
The quality of air around us varies depending on the human living conditions in a specific area. The quality is dependent on the amount of pollutants and greenhouse emissions that are in the air, along with various other factors. There are very small and mindless daily activities that may harshly increase the amount of carbon emissions in the air, like driving a car, purchasing non-local goods, and the use of fossil fuels. Though, it is also true that the smallest changes in someone’s daily routine can lower the amount of carbon emissions produced by one person.
Listed here are some easy steps anyone can apply to their daily lives to reduce the amount of carbon emissions they put into the air:
- Reduce energy use: making sure unnecessary lights and appliances are off or unplugged reduces your energy use, as well as reducing energy needing to be created from factories. These factories producing your energy are large contributors to air pollution.
- Take public transportation, like the bus or carpool with friends one more day a week than usual.
- Avoid the use of aerosol cans/sprays
- When selecting food from the grocery store, choose locally grown and shipped foods. This lowers the amount of traveling distance the food has to be shipped.
Find out how big your Carbon Footprint is with the Carbon Footprint Calculator and learn what ways you can help reduce carbon emissions!


SPECIAL TO SEGAZINE
More floodwaters from Thurmond Lake and its reservoirs have been released and the Savannah River is expected to rise rapidly by two feet.
Source: Augusta Chronicle
More rain on the way for Athens area
Source: Athens Banner-Herald
• Heavy rain expected to bring flash floods in Middle Georgia
A slow-moving cold front could bring massive rain up to three inches in some thunderstorms and widespread totals of one to two inches.
Source: Macon Telegraph
• Recent rainfall is increasing mold, say allergists
• Heavy rains expected today in metro Atlanta
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Sea Turtle Center to release two turtles Friday
Source: Georgia Times-Union


- Tram Ho
In the context that global warming is still taking place very complicatedly, the Arctic and Antarctic are still the two hotspots that are most interested in the world. According to data compiled over the past 30 years, scientists have recorded that the temperature in Antarctica is now 3 times warmer than the global speed since 1989.
The research was led by an international team of scientists and they used data from weather stations, observation networks and climate models to assess the impact of global warming in Antarctica.
Specifically, the temperature has changed in an increasingly extreme way across the Antarctic continent. Most of the western Antarctica and the Antarctic peninsula have become increasingly melting by the global warming trend since the late 20th century.
However, the manifestation of global warming in Antarctica is very different from the rest of the world. This is due to its location. Because Antarctica is considered to be the most remote and coldest land on Earth. While other continents began to record warming in the late 20th century, Antarctica remained the coldest region until the 1980s. But new research confirms that the change has appeared soundly negative. silently.
According to the team’s analysis, Antarctica was warmer than 1.8 degrees Celsius between 1989 and 2018, and temperatures have started to accelerate since the early 2000s. For comparison, data from the Atmospheric Administration and The National Oceanic America shows that the temperature of soil and oceans across the planet has increased by an average of 0.18 degrees Celsius per decade since 1981.
The researchers attributed this result to a combination of many factors, although it was difficult to accurately identify each. However, a major factor in this trend is the warmer ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific. This is the main cause that pushes warmer air to Antarctica.
Going into the study, the team found that some of the hottest years in Antarctica correlated with abnormal temperatures in the tropics. In particular, the temperature change in Antarctica during the study period may be related to the ocean temperature in that area.
To understand the role of greenhouse gases and man-made climate change in this trend, the research team analyzed more than 200 simulated climate models. Greenhouse gases were measured over 30 years and allowed the team to compare warming rates with all possible warming trends without human impact.
The team believes that warming can exceed 99.9% in all situations due to human impact. Meanwhile, it is difficult to happen such a warming due to the effects of nature.
The team concluded that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions is always accompanied by changes in temperature and creates one of the strongest warming trends on the planet, even bigger than in the Arctic, where is warming nearly twice as much as the rest of the planet.
The research has recently been published in Nature Climate Change.
Refer to Newatlas
Source : Genk


Dr. Mikhail Kogan
Earth Institute Contact: Dr. Mikhail Kogan
This proposal addresses the need for monitoring preciptable water vapor (PWV) in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Siberia using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and meteorological observations collected in near-real time over the Northeast Asia GPS Deformation Array (NEDA), which currently does not include Siberia. Smoothed observations of PWV over Siberia are important for calibration and validation of global water vapor data sets and global numerical climate models.
Cross Cutting Themes:
Climate and Society
Regional Data Acquisition/Analysis Center (RDAAC)
National Science Foundation


India faces an unprecedented crisis due to climate change impacts, a government assessment report revealed last month, presenting a grim analysis of observed changes and future projections of warming impacts including precipitation changes, temperature rise, droughts, sea level rise and extreme weather events.
The ‘Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region- A Report of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, is the first ever climate change report for India prepared by the Centre for Climate Change Research (CCCR) at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
Noting that the global average temperature has risen by around 1 °C since pre-industrial times, the report stated that the magnitude and rate of warming cannot be explained by natural variations alone and must necessarily take into account changes due to human activities. The report also pointed out that warming since the 1950s has already contributed to a significant increase in extreme weather manifestations like heat waves, droughts and cyclones, changes in precipitation and wind patterns including shifts in the monsoon systems, warming and acidification of oceans, melting of sea ice and glaciers, rising sea levels, and changes in marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
The report mentioned the projected rise of global average temperatures by 5 °C or more by the end of the twenty-first century under current GHG emission rates and further added that even if all the Paris Agreement commitments were met, global warming will still exceed 3 °C by the end of the century. It is obvious that the world would need to go far beyond the Nationally Determined Contributions of the Paris Agreement to avoid catastrophic climate change. The global lockdown response to the COVID-19 pandemic gives us hope that such collective action is quite possible in this critical period.
Climate Change in India: Observed and Projected Changes
India is a vast country with many climate zones, and hence, local climate change and their causes can be quite complex. This assessment is the first attempt to document climate changes in different parts of India, observed changes and future implications for the different regions.
Temperature Rise Over India
India’s average temperature has risen by around 0.7 °C during 1901–2018. This rise in temperature is largely on account of GHG-induced warming, partially offset by forcing due to anthropogenic aerosols and changes in land use and land cover. By the end of the twenty-first century, the frequencies of occurrence of warm days and warm nights are projected to increase by 55% and 70%, respectively, relative to the reference period 1976-2005.
The frequency of summer (April–June) heat waves over India is projected to be 3 to 4 times higher by the end of the twenty-first century as compared to the 1976–2005 baseline period. The average duration of heat wave events is also projected to approximately double, but with a substantial spread among models. In response to the combined rise in surface temperature and humidity, amplification of heat stress is expected across India, particularly over the Indo-Gangetic and Indus River basins.
Indian Ocean Warming
Sea surface temperature of the tropical Indian Ocean has risen by 1 °C on average during 1951–2015, markedly higher than the global average warming of 0.7 °C, over the same period. Ocean heat content of the Indian Ocean has also exhibited an increasing trend over the past six decades (1955–2015), with the past two decades (1998–2015) having witnessed a notably abrupt rise. During the twenty-first century, sea surface temperature and ocean heat content in the tropical Indian Ocean are projected to continue to rise.
Changes in Rainfall
The summer monsoon precipitation (June to September) over India has declined by around 6% from 1951 to 2015, with notable decreases over the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the Western Ghats.
There has been a shift in the recent period toward more frequent dry spells (27% higher
during 1981–2011 relative to 1951–1980) and more intense wet spells during the summer
monsoon season. Over central India, the frequency of daily precipitation extremes increased by about 75% during 1950–2015.
With continued global warming and anticipated reductions in anthropogenic aerosol emissions in the future, projections include increase in the mean and variability of monsoon precipitation by the end of the twenty-first century, together with substantial increases in daily precipitation extremes.
The overall decrease of seasonal summer monsoon rainfall during the last 6–7 decades has led to an increased propensity for droughts over India. Both the frequency and spatial extent of droughts have increased significantly during 1951–2016. In particular, areas over central India, southwest coast, southern peninsula and north-eastern India have experienced more than 2 droughts per decade, on average, during this period. The area affected by drought has also increased by 1.3% per decade over the same period.
Climate model projections indicate a high likelihood of increase in the frequency (>2 events per decade), intensity and area under drought conditions in India by the end of the twenty-first century.
Sea Level Rise
Sea levels have risen globally because of the continental ice melt and thermal expansion of ocean water in response to global warming. Sea-level rise in the North Indian Ocean occurred at a rate of 1.06–1.75 mm per year during 1874–2004 and has accelerated to 3.3 mm per year in the last two and a half decades (1993–2017), which is comparable to the current rate of global mean sea-level rise.
At the end of the twenty-first century, sea levels in the same area are projected to rise by approximately 300 mm, compared to the projected global mean rise of approximately 180 mm.
There has been a significant reduction in the annual frequency of tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean basin since the middle of the twentieth century (1951–2018). In contrast, the frequency of very severe cyclonic storms during the post-monsoon season has increased significantly (+1 event per decade) during the last two decades (2000–2018).
However, a clear signal of anthropogenic warming on these trends has not yet emerged.
Climate models project a rise in the intensity of tropical cyclones during the twenty-first century.
Changes in the Himalayas
The Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) experienced a temperature rise of about 1.3 °C during
1951–2014. Several areas of HKH have experienced a declining trend in snowfall and also
retreat of glaciers in recent decades. In contrast, the high-elevation Karakoram Himalayas have experienced higher winter snowfall that has shielded the region from glacier shrinkage.
By the end of the twenty-first century, the annual mean surface temperature over HKH is
projected to increase by about 5.2 °C under the worst-case scenario. The projections also indicate an increase in annual precipitation, but decrease in snowfall over the HKH region by the end of the twenty-first century, with large spread across models.
Since the middle of the twentieth century, India has witnessed a rise in average temperature; a decrease in monsoon precipitation; a rise in extreme temperature and rainfall events, droughts, and sea levels; and an increase in the intensity of severe cyclones, alongside other changes in the monsoon system. There is compelling scientific evidence that human activities have influenced these changes in regional climate.
Human-induced climate change is expected to continue apace during the twenty-first century. To improve the accuracy of future climate projections, particularly in the context of regional forecasts, it is essential to develop strategic approaches for improving the knowledge of Earth system processes, and to continue enhancing observation systems and climate models.