ozone

Four years after an overhaul of Colorado’s oil and gas rules that was meant to cool conflicts over drilling, a draft bill that would phase out new permits for wells is running up the temperature. Fanning the heat even more are ballot proposals that could restrict efforts to boost renewable energy. Gov. Jared Polis said he hoped a law approved in 2019 would end the state’s “oil and gas wars” by tightening regulations and putting protection of public health and the environment front and center. But growing concerns about…

Stratigraphy and sulfur isotopes for the Meishan section, China, across the Permian-Triassic boundary. Credit: Li et al. 2024. The concept of deadly mass extinctions wreaking destruction upon Earth's ecosystems millions of years ago is something that has fascinated the public and scientists alike for decades. A groundbreaking publication by Jack…

Potential source distribution of formaldehyde (a), acetylene (b), and xylenes (c) at the Qinling Mountain in summer 2020. Credit: Xue Yonggang The increasing concentration of ozone (O3) is a key factor contributing to the deterioration of air quality in China. O3 and its precursors, especially volatile organic compounds (VOCs), could be transported by air masses, leading to interactions of O3 precursors from biogenic and…

News organizations may use or redistribute this image, with proper attribution, as part of news coverage of this paper only. Credit: Higher Education Press Sulfate-nitrate-ammonium (SNA) and other atmospheric aerosols play a significant role in influencing both atmospheric and environmental conditions. These aerosols impact climate directly through scattering and absorbing solar radiation, thus influencing the Earth's radiative…

January 17, 20243 min readThe Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcano erupted in January 2022 with the force of an atomic weapon. The disaster has launched dozens of new studies about global warmingBy John Fialka & E&E NewsTonga. 15th Jan, 2022. Still capture of a video released to the media by NASA on Jan. 15, 2022 of one of the most potent volcanic eruptions in decades has obliterated a small, uninhabited South Pacific island known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai. CLIMATEWIRE | Scientists around the world are exploring…

Three-dimensional distribution, transport process and source attribution of ozone under extreme pollution events over Hefei. Credit: HU Feng Recently, a research group led by Prof. Xie Pinhua from Hefei lnstitutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), revealed the source and transport mechanisms behind an episode of ozone pollution observed in Hefei, a city located in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD)…

Back trajectories to identify sources of CFC-11 emission measured by local stations in China. Credit: University of Bristol On 9 January 2023, the United Nations released its latest report on the status of the ozone layer. It highlighted that this protective barrier is on track toward recovery and should be fully restored by the second half of the 21st century. …

The ozone hole was healing, or at least that’s what scientists told us. Managing to undo the damage that greenhouse gas emissions have done has been heralded as one of the world’s greatest environmental achievements. However, a new study could debunk all of that. According to the new study, which was published this week in Nature Communications, ozone levels in the large Antarctic ozone hole have reduced by 26 percent since 2004. Hannah Kessenich, a PhD student at the University of Otago and the study’s lead…

The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has been getting deeper in mid-spring over the last two decades, despite a global ban on chemicals that deplete Earth's shield from deadly solar radiation, new research suggested Tuesday.The ozone layer 11 to 40 kilometers (seven to 25 miles) above Earth's surface filters out most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin cancer and cataracts.From the mid-1970s, chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – once widely used in aerosols and refrigerators – were found to…

Recent research from the University of Otago indicates that the Antarctic ozone hole has been significantly larger and more persistent than commonly believed, not solely due to CFCs. The study links the hole to changes in the Southern Hemisphere’s climate and weather patterns, despite the Montreal Protocol’s efforts.A new study reveals the Antarctic ozone hole is larger and more enduring than thought, with complex factors beyond CFCs contributing to its persistence and impact on the Southern Hemisphere’s climate.Despite…