The processes that create ozone pollution in the summer can also trigger the formation of wintertime air pollution, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and NOAA, in partnership with the University of Utah.
[This release is adapted from material provided by CIRES and NOAA]
The processes that create ozone pollution in the summer can also trigger the formation of wintertime air pollution, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and NOAA, in partnership with the University of Utah. The team’s unexpected finding suggests that in the U.S. West and elsewhere, certain efforts to reduce harmful wintertime air pollution could backfire.
Specifically, targeting nitrogen oxides emitted by cars and power plants could initially actually increase harmful air pollution, the researchers reported in their new paper, out today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“This insight arose from some of the most extensive measurements of the chemistry behind our wintertime pollution problem,” said the University of Utah’s John Lin, a professor of atmospheric sciences and co-author of the study.
“This is contrary to what is typically assumed and suggests a new way to mitigate this type of pollution in Salt Lake City, Denver and beyond,” said Caroline Womack, a CIRES scientist working in the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory and lead author of the study.
Read more at University of Utah
Image: Utah Winter Fine Particulate Study 2017 participants with Twin Otter N48RF. (Credit: S. Brown, Utah Winter Fine Particulate Study (UWFPS) 2017)
