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NOAA-led team measures atmosphere's self-cleaning capacity
Date:1/6/2011

An international, NOAA-led research team took a significant step forward in understanding the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself of air pollutants and some other gases, except carbon dioxide. The issue has been controversial for many years, with some studies suggesting the self-cleaning power of the atmosphere is fragile and sensitive to environmental changes, while others suggest greater stability. And what researchers are finding is that the atmosphere's self-cleaning capacity is rather stable.

New analysis published online today in the journal Science shows that global levels of the hydroxyl radical, a critical player in atmospheric chemistry, do not vary much from year to year. Levels of hydroxyl, which help clear the atmosphere of many hazardous air pollutants and some important greenhouse gases but not carbon dioxide dip and rise by only a few percent every year; not by up to 25 percent, as was once estimated.

"The new hydroxyl measurements give researchers a broad view of the 'oxidizing' or self-cleaning capacity of the atmosphere," said Stephen Montzka, the study's lead author and a research chemist at the Global Monitoring Division of NOAA's Boulder, Colo., laboratory.

"Now we know that the atmosphere's ability to rid itself of many pollutants is generally well buffered or stable," said Montzka. "This fundamental property of the atmosphere was one we hadn't been able to confirm before."

The new finding adds confidence to projections of future air pollutant loads. The hydroxyl radical, comprised of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, is formed and broken down so quickly in the atmosphere that it has been extremely difficult to measure on global scales.

"In the daytime, hydroxyl's lifetime is about one second and is present at exceedingly low concentrations," said Montzka. "Once created, it doesn't take long to find something to react with."

The radical is central to the chemistry of
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Contact: Jana Goldman
jana.goldman@noaa.gov
301-734-1123
NOAA Headquarters
Source:Eurekalert

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