Abstract
Aerosols are small particles suspended in the atmosphere. They can absorb and scatter light and change cloud formations. They have both warming and cooling impacts, but, overall, the impacts are cooling. They dampen the warming impacts of fossil fuel emissions. However, they can be very harmful to human health.
Until now there has not been an indicator that could link human activity to the abundance of aerosols in the atmosphere. This is because the pathways from the emission of aerosols and precursor gases to aerosols vary greatly and are influenced by several environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and air movement. However, without a way to even approximate this relationship, it is difficult to effectively manage or limit the source of the emissions.
A new indicator is thus proposed to link the emission of aerosols and precursor gases to aerosol abundance. It is a measure of the equivalent aerosol abundance if emissions occurred at a global scale, in the unit aerosol optical depth equivalent.
The new indicator is not intended to estimate the local state of the environment after emissions. Rather, the intent is that the emissions related to an activity can be compared to another activity and to scientific limits at local and global scales.
The Planetary Quota for aerosols is aerosol optical depth equivalent between 0.04 and 0.1. This can be compared to the “aerosol footprint” of any scale of human activity. The limit is set on the basis of balancing the need to retain some cooling effects to offset global warming, as well as the need for clean air for the health of humans and other species.
Air pollution is turning Mother Nature prematurely grey
Irv Kupcinet
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Notes
- 1.
A pressure level means at the level of environmental flows, i.e. the emission of aerosols and precursor gases. See Chap. 4 for a description of different categories of environmental indicators including states and pressures.
- 2.
Manuscript in preparation.
- 3.
Determining the appropriate area will depend on the allocation procedure selected for downscaling the global quotas. See Chap. 17 for more on allocation procedures.
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Meyer, K., Newman, P. (2020). A Quota for Aerosols. In: Planetary Accounting. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1443-2_12
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