LEAD Action News

LEAD Action News vol 3 no 4 Spring 1995 ISSN 1324-6011
The Journal of The LEAD (Lead Education and Abatement Design) Group Inc.
Incorporating Lead Aware Times ( ISSN 1440-4966) and Lead Advisory Service News ( ISSN 1440-0561)

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About Us | Contact Us | Council LEAD Project | egroups | Library - Fact Sheets | Home Page | Media Releases | Newsletters
 Q & A | Referral lists | Reports | Site Map | Slide Shows - Films | Subscription | Useful Links |  Search this Site

Last Updated 19 November 2012
Copyright © The LEAD Group Inc. 1991 - 2012
PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9716 0014

LEAD Action News

LEAD Action News vol 3 no 4 Spring 1995. ISSN 1324-6011
Incorporating Lead Aware Times ( ISSN 1440-4966) and Lead Advisory Service News ( ISSN 1440-0561)
The journal of The LEAD (Lead Education and Abatement Design) Group Inc.

Search this site
 
Search tips 
What's New

About Us
bell system lead poisoning
Contact Us
Council Lead Project
egroups
Library-Fact Sheets
Home Page
Media Releases
Newsletters
Q&A
Referral Lists
Reports
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Air Pollution: Will it Change our Climate?

"Drifting in the air above our cities is an invisible pall of microscopic particles. Over Sydney alone, a thousand tonnes of lead from exhaust emissions hangs in the atmosphere daily, too light ever to sink to earth but constantly breathed in and out by every gulping motor, and by every inhabitant." (LEAD Action News, Spring 1994, p4). Last year the CSIRO sent out the following: cloud.gif (2826 bytes)

During 1993 scientists from around the world gathered in North-Western Tasmania for the final phase of a two-year experiment to find the likely impact of air pollution on global temperatures.

They were to gather information on clouds from ground-based measurements, aircraft flights and satellite instruments.

"The number of particles in clouds determines how much sunlight is reflected back into space," said Dr Jorgen Jensen, a Senior Research Scientist at the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research.

"In the clean air of the southern hemisphere, most of the particles come from algae in the ocean. However, in the polluted northern hemisphere, industrialisation is steadily increasing the number of particles in the air," Dr Jensen said.

Dr Jensen and his team were to fly their Fokker research plane through and above clouds. At the same time, colleagues were to probe the clouds from below and monitor air composition at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station.

The first stage of the experiment, dubbed SOCEX (Southern Ocean Cloud Experiment) took place in winter 1993, when natural emissions of sulfur gases from the ocean were low. These gases generate natural particles that act as cloud nuclei.

During warm conditions, ocean plankton flourish, generating more particles. Scientists were to compare summertime clouds, forming in air containing high particle levels, with those formed in winter air.

"The Southern Ocean is a natural laboratory. By comparing summer measurements with those we made in winter, we can discover how increased levels of cloud nuclei change cloud properties," Dr Jensen said.

Clouds have a major impact on global temperatures. Without them, the world’s average temperature would be much warmer than it is now.

Not all clouds have a cooling effect though. Clouds high in the atmosphere trap heat, warming the lower atmosphere. Our climate will depend very much on the make-up of clouds in future.

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Last Updated 19 November 2012
Copyright © The LEAD Group Inc. 1991 - 2012
PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9716 0014