1. Global air pollution crossroads over the Mediterranean. (Research Articles)
- Author
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Lelieveld, J., Berresheim, H., Borrmann, S., Crutzen, P.J., Dentener, F.J., Fischer, H., Feichter, J., Flatau, P.J., Heland, J., Holzinger, R., Korrmann, R., Lawrence, M.G., Levin, Z., Markowicz, K.M., Mihalopoulos, N., Minikin, A., Ramanathan, V., de Reus, M., Roelofs, G.J., Scheeren, H.A., Sciare, J., Schlager, H., Schultz, M., Siegmund, P., Steil, B., Stephanou, E.G., Stier, P., Traub, M., Warneke, C., Williams, J., and Ziereis, H.
- Subjects
Mediterranean Sea -- Environmental aspects ,Air pollution -- Research -- Environmental aspects ,Science and technology - Abstract
The Mediterranean Intensive Oxidant Study, performed in the summer of 2001, uncovered air pollution layers from the surface to an altitude of 15 kilometers. In the boundary layer, air pollution standards are exceeded throughout the region, caused by West and East European pollution from the north. Aerosol particles also reduce solar radiation penetration to the surface, which can suppress precipitation. In the middle troposphere, Asian and to a lesser extent North American pollution is transported from the west. Additional Asian pollution from the east, transported from the monsoon in the upper troposphere, crosses the Mediterranean tropopause, which pollutes the lower stratosphere at middle latitudes., The summertime Mediterranean basin is directly under the descending branch of the Hadley circulation, driven by deep convection in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Subsidence over the Mediterranean causes drought, affecting [...]
- Published
- 2002