Carbon Sequestration Potential of Indian Forests

The forestry sector can not only sustain its carbon but also has the potential to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. India has maintained approximately 64 Mha of forest cover for the last decade. The rate of afforestation in India is one of the highest among the tropical countries, currently estimated to be 2 Mha per annum. The annual productivity has increased from 0.7 m³ per hactare in 1985 to 1.37 m³ per hectare in 1995. Increase in annual productivity directly indicates an increase in forest biomass and hence higher carbon sequestration potential. The carbon pool for the Indian forests is estimated to be 2026.72 Mt for the year 1995. Estimates of annual carbon uptake increment suggest that our forests and plantations have been able to remove at least 0.125 Gt of CO₂ from the atmosphere in the year 1995. Assuming that the present forest cover in India will sustain itself with a marginal annual increase by 0.5 Mha in area of plantations, we can expect our forests to continue to act as a net carbon sink in future.     

The Black Carbon Story: Early History and New Perspectives

A number of recent studies have suggested that black carbon (BC), the light-absorbing fraction of soot, is next to CO₂ one of the strongest contributors to the global climate change. BC heats the air, darkens the snow and ice surfaces and could contribute to the melting of Arctic ice, snowpacks, and glaciers. Although soot is the oldest known pollutant its importance in climate modification has only been recently recognized. In this article, we trace the historical developments over about three decades that changed the view of the role of BC in the environment, from a pollutant of marginal importance to one of the main climate change agents. We also discuss some of the reasons for the initial lack of interest in BC and the subsequent rigorous research activity on the role of aerosols in climate change.     

空气清新剂中挥发性有机物的组成及其对室内空气质量的潜在影响

研究调查了广州市各大型超市销售的14个品牌,15种不同香型,共26个盒装空气清新剂中挥发性有机物（VOCs）的成分.通过顶空GC-MS分析获得的结果可以看出各个空气清新剂的成分组成差别较大,即使是相同香型的产品,其中的化合物种类和百分比浓度都不尽相同.定性出94种化合物,包括烯烃18种,醇类15种,醛类14种,酮类4种,醚类5种,酚类1种,酯类25种及其它化合物12种,其中萜类化合物约占总化合物数量的40%.β-月桂烯、罗勒烯、苧烯、苯乙醇、乙酸苄酯、β-蒎烯、β-水芹烯、伞花烃、1-甲基-4-（1-甲基乙烯基）苯、里拉醇等化合物在各种清新剂中出现频率为100%.空气清新剂中萜类化合物与臭氧反应,可生成二次有机气溶胶,对室内空气质量造成影响.     

Aerosol Generation by Bubble Collapse at Ocean Surfaces

Sea salt particles are part ofmarine aerosols in the troposphere. A fraction ofthese particles is released by droplets generatedduring the bursting of bubbles at the ocean surface.Droplets result from fragmentation of film caps (filmdroplets) and the disintegration of water jets formedsubsequent to the bubble collapse (jet droplets).This release process is also of importance fortechnical applications and, consequently, simulationtools have been developed, which now may be used toquantify the contribution of these effects to marineaerosol generation. To calculate the amount of filmdroplets generated, it is necessary to determine thevolume of the film cap, which is a function of itsthickness and surface area. While surface areas ofsmall bubbles can be determined by an analyticalsolution of a simplified balance of forces, shapes oflarge non-spherical bubbles are calculatednumerically. The determination of the film thicknessis based on a resonance model for bubbleoscillations. For a detailed analysis of the jetdroplet generation, the bubble burst induced jetformation and disintegration is simulated numericallyusing a SOLA-MAC algorithm.     

Effects of Land Use Changes on the Landscape Composition: A Comparison Between Finnish and Russian Karelia

During the last 50 years the practising and intensity of agriculture and forestry have differed considerably between Finnish and Russian Karelia. We studied the effects of different land use practices on the landscape composition in the two countries using the road transect sampling along four study routes (99-121 km) between 1997 and 1999. Effective environmental management in Finland has resulted in more distinct agricultural land types, more even distribution of the different age classes of forests, and the higher abundance of coniferous forests. Fields (mean percentage of the landscape: Finland 28%, Russia 13%), clearcuts and sapling stands (15%, 6%), and young forests (23%, 9%) were more typical elements of the Finnish landscape, whereas settlements (9%, 13%), semi-natural grasslands (3%, 7%), and mature forests (20%, 49%) were more characteristic of the Russian landscape. Landscape-level differences between the two countries may have various effects on the diversity of fauna and flora inhabiting Finnish and Russian Karelia.     

Application of ion chromatography to the determination of water-soluble inorganic and organic ions in atmospheric aerosols

A simple, sensitive and convenient ion chromatography(IC) method was established for the simultaneous determination of twelve water-soluble inorganic anions(F^-, Cl^-, NO2^-, NO3^-, SO3^2-, SO4^2-, PO4^3- ), and fifteen water-soluble organic ions(formate, acetate, MSA, oxalate, malonate, succinate, phthalates, etc. ) in atmospheric aerosols. The linear concentrations ranged from 0.005 μg/m^3 to 500 μg/m^3 (r = 0.999--0.9999). The relative standard deviation(RSD) were 0.43%--2.00% and the detection limits were from 2.7 ng/m^3 to 88 ng/m^3. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of those inorganic ions and organic ions in PM2.5 of Beijing.     

Real-time wet scavenging of major chemical constituents of aerosols and role of rain intensity in Indian region

Real-time simultaneous studies on chemical characteristics of rainwater and PM₁₀ aerosols were carried out to understand the scavenging of major chemical components in Indian region. The concentrations of Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺, SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ were observed to be lower in the aerosol samples collected during rain as compared to before and after rain events. The most significant reduction was noticed for Ca²⁺ (74%) during rain which showed highest scavenging ratio (SR) and indicated that below-cloud scavenging is an effective removal process for Ca²⁺ in Indian region. Among non-sea salt components, Ca²⁺ had highest SR at Hyderabad indicating typical characteristics of crustal influence as abundance of calcium carbonate in soil dust has been reported in India. However, the levels of these major chemical components gradually got build-up in due course of time. After rain events, the levels of SO₄²⁻ aerosols were noticed to be substantially higher (more than double) within 24 h. In general, scavenging ratios for all components (except Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺ and K⁺) were higher over BOB as compared to Hyderabad. The maximum fall in aerosol levels (BR minus AR) was observed during continuous and low intensity rain events that did not allow building up of aerosol concentrations.     

珠江三角洲咸潮灾害主因分析

从上世纪90年代末开始，咸潮灾害在河流枯水期频繁侵袭珠江三角洲近河口地区，给1500万人口的生活和生产用水造成了很大的困难。咸潮灾害发生前和发生时期进行的大规模采掘河沙活动使三角洲河床普遍大幅度下切，河流水位下降，潮汐作用相对增强，这是引发成潮的主要原因；而天旱和海平面上升等则使咸潮灾害加重。在防御咸潮灾害的指导思想和措施上，应特别重视引发咸潮的主因。     

北京市沙尘暴天气大气气溶胶酸度和酸化缓冲能力

2000年春季,北京市先后出现12次沙尘暴天气.本研究捕捉到2次沙尘暴天气,分析了沙尘暴天气和非沙尘暴天气TSP、PM₁₀的质量浓度、酸度和酸化缓冲能力.研究结果表明发生沙尘暴时大气气溶胶的污染水平极高,同时其酸度相对较低,对酸化有非常强的缓冲能力,因此沙尘暴天气时产生的大气气溶胶可以在一定程度上避免酸性降水的发生.     

长江三角洲地区人为源大气污染物排放特征研究

在收集整理长江三角洲地区（简称＂长三角＂）各城市人为大气污染源资料的基础上,采用以＂自下而上＂为主的方法建立了2007年长三角地区人为源大气污染物排放清单.清单结果显示,2007年长三角地区的SO2、NOx、CO、PM10、PM2.5、VOCs和NH3等大气污染物排放总量分别达到2391.8、2292.9、6697.1...