Week 4 Reflection

The more I study climate change the more I appreciate just how complex the subject area is! I find it very frustrating that much of the mass media coverage is so biased and unscientific.

The Ship Tracks South of Alaska were fascinating! Interesting to think that these tracks would disappear if diesel ships were replaced by modern sailing ships.

I'm interested in the climate effects of particulates. It appears that they can me involved as nucleation "seeds" for cloud brightening and sulphate particulates can be involved in global dimming.

Particulate air pollution is a significant heath hazard as reported in The Mortality Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution in the United Kingdom. One of the conclusions of this paper is:

Removing all anthropogenic (‘human-made’) particulate matter air pollution (measured as PM2.5) could save the UK population approximately 36.5 million life years over the next 100 years and would be associated with an increase in UK life expectancy from birth, i.e. on average across new births, of six months. This shows the public health importance of taking measures to reduce air pollution.

So some particulates can have beneficial effects high in the atmosphere but are a health hazard nearer the ground.

Didn't attend any other climate related talks in Cambridge this week. Looking forward to the next in the Adaptation to climate change seminar series on Sea Level Rise, Coastal Cities, and Wetlands on Thursday.