Posted on 01/12/2012 2:54:02 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
From the UOW, nice to see that man isn’t the culprit in this case.
UOW data confirm surprising atmospheric findings
Dr Murphy and Professor Griffith with the suntracker of the solar Fourier transform spectrometer that backed surprising satellite readings linking most formic acid emissions from forests
By Melissa Coade – Satellites showing that nature is responsible for 90% of the earth’s atmospheric acidity shocked researchers from the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, whose findings have just been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Stunned, the scientists approached a team from the University of Wollongong’s Centre of Atmospheric Chemistry (CAC) to confirm what satellite readings were telling them.
By providing data from a ground-based solar Fourier transform spectrometer instrument at the University, CAC used 15-years worth of information to verify the satellite’s story: all existing global models had substantially misjudged the main source of formic acid levels on earth – its forests.
UOW Physical Chemistry lecturer Dr Clare Murphy (Paton-Walsh) made the first measurements of formic acid with the instrument as part of her PhD looking at the atmospheric emissions of bushfires.
“The instrument provides a spectral record, of which you can analyse for a whole number of different gases, and formic acid is one that is relatively new,” Dr Murphy said.
“The modelling shows, particularly, that natural forest emissions have been highly underestimated. Our forest areas are producing more formic acid than we ever thought,” she said.
Dr Murphy said the unexpected results might well mean forests are responsible for most of the acidity in rainwater in areas other than highly-polluted inner-cities.
“Our instrumentation has global significance because the number of facilities in the region are very limited. In order to capture some of the major forests of the Southern Hemisphere this machine was crucial,” she said.
In the atmosphere, formic acid impacts a number of important pH-sensitive chemical reactions such as the production and loss of radicals affecting the ozone. Quickly absorbed by microbes, formic acid is not associated with the harmful effects of acid rain.
According to CAC coordinator and co-contributor Professor David Griffith, the results provide a whole new angle to existing knowledge about our atmosphere.
“When it comes to understanding the fundamental chemistry that goes on and the whole oxidiative cycle, where formic acid has an important impact is that it is one component of the soup which controls the ability of the atmosphere to oxidise pollutants and get rid of them,” Professor Griffith said.
“Normally you take your measurements and might make a 10 or 20 percent adjustment to an estimate of a source but here we’ve proven by several factors that our understanding was wrong,” he said.
The study showed that terrestrial vegetation accounts for 90 percent of annual formic acid production. Other sources include fossil fuel combustion, agriculture and biomass burning.
Alongside UOW co-authors Dr Murphy and Professor Griffith worked CAS members Dr Nicholas Jones and Dr Nicholas Deutscher.
h/t to Dr. Leif Svalgaard
Carbon Dioxide in water is slightly acidic. Seeing how nature has plenty of both this outcome is not really very surprising. I wish whatever Judge said Carbon Dioxide was a pollutant was impeached then publicly horse-wiped. He deserves no less.
At the website:
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66 Responses to New study confirms that nature is responsible for 90% of the Earth’s atmospheric acidity
Actually, it’s 100%, since mankind is a part of nature. . .
How about 99.99999999999 %..........like duh
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polistra says:
The Belgian study last month actually shocked Fred Pearce of New Superstitionist into admitting a bit of truth for once:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21298-trees-do-bear-some-blame-for-acid-rain.html
I seem to recall that the specific acid-rain scare in NE USA was disproved quite a while ago by a study of wind patterns; the forests in question couldn’t have gotten the pollution from the accused power plants.
Now it’s especially good to see the whole theory, not just the specific distribution, disproved twice!
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Harry Won A BAgel says:
I too am having trouble understanding the language of these scientists. Shocked? New data observed. Experiment developed to test long standing hypothesis . Hypothesis falsified. Another perfectly reasonable hypothesis developed and is not falsified. Kudos. Where is the shocked bit? It is as if for the reporter finding out humans are not the villains is of itself shocking.
More:
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Stephen Rasey says:
“Killer Trees!”
After opining in August 1980 that “trees cause more pollution than automobiles do,” Reagan arrived at a campaign rally to find a tree decorated with this sign: “Chop me down before I kill again.” Washington Monthly Sept. 2003
They probably won't get any more...
One of the many reasons the slogan "If it's Brown, flush it", was popular.
Contrary to what most people believe about breathing, the reason we change how fast we breathe is to regulate the levels of carbon dioxide, and thus, the pH, in our blood. The more you exercise, the more CO2 goes into your blood, and the faster you breathe to get rid of it so that the blood pH will not decrease.
< /end completely off-topic digression >
Ping.
not if you are a socialist then we are gods. I think we live in the first time in human history were a very large part of the population believes we are gods
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