Megacity traffic soot contributes to global warming

From 3 to 14 December, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24) will take place in Katowice, Poland, where the member states will discuss climate protection measures and negotiate the implementation of the Paris Climate Convention. IASS Potsdam, FZ Jülich and TROPOS discussed at a forum in the EU pavilion how the reduction of air pollution can contribute to human health and climate protection.

Soot particles from combustion processes significantly contribute to air pollution because they contain heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are toxic. A reduction of soot particles through driving restrictions for old diesel vehicles can therefore significantly reduce the health impact, as studies by LfULG and TROPOS have shown based on the low emission zone in Leipzig 2017.

However, soot does not only have a negative effect on human health, it also contributes to global warming by absorbing solar radiation.

According to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there are still major uncertainties regarding the quantities and distribution of soot in the atmosphere. While altitude observatories in the Himalayas or the Alps provide insights into these processes, the picture is still very incomplete, especially for the Southern Hemisphere.

Large quantities of soot probably enter the atmosphere via forest fires in the tropics as well as from traffic in the growing conurbations of emerging countries. Scientists therefore hope to gain important insights from the Chacaltaya altitude observatory in Bolivia, which became operational in 2012.

At 5240 meters, the station is currently the highest measuring station in the world. It is operated by the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA-LFA) in Bolivia and by a consortium, consisting of institutes from France (Grenoble University/IGE, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement/LSCE and Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique/LaMP), Germany (Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research/TROPOS), and Sweden (Stockholm University/SU).

Chacaltaya is a unique observatory in the Southern Hemisphere and of great importance for atmospheric research. With Bogota (about 7 million inhabitants on 2640m), Quito (about 2 million inhabitants on 2850m) and La Paz/El Alto (about 2 million inhabitants between 3400 and 4100 m), several of the fast-growing cities in South America are located at high altitude. Therefore, air pollution in this region has a particularly strong impact on the atmosphere and the global climate.

For the recently published study, the team with researchers from Bolivia, Germany, France, the USA, Sweden and Italy could benefit from unique conditions: With three stations at different altitudes (downtown La Paz at 3590m, El Alto Airport at 4040m and Chacaltaya Observatory at 5240m), it was possible to explain the vertical transport of soot.

“The measurements clearly show how soot from the city valley emerges with the warmed air up to the El Alto plateau and then partly up to the peaks of the Andes”, explains Prof. Alfred Wiedensohler from TROPOS. From the scientists' point of view, there is no doubt that the soot in La Paz comes mainly from road traffic. During the population census on 21 November 2012, all traffic in Bolivia was completely banned for 24 hours so that the population could be registered at their place of residence.

Only ambulances were allowed to drive for emergency operations. “The result was impressive: the soot load on the road was reduced from around 20 to less than one microgram per cubic meter. This corresponds roughly to the reduction from 100 to about five percent. There is no clearer way of demonstrating the contribution of soot pollution from road traffic,” reports Alfred Wiedensohler.

“This finding is important because several cities in the region might be facing the same problem. For instance Cochabamba, the third largest metropolitan area of Bolivia, has serious air quality problems according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, this study can contribute to strengthen regulations for improving air quality in different cities in the country,” adds Dr. Marcos Andrade from LFA-UMSA, coauthor of the study and coordinator of the CHC-GAW station.

For the scientists involved in the study, it is therefore obvious that the growing traffic with diesel vehicles without particulate filters is an increasing health risk for millions of people in the megacities of emerging countries. Soot is also slowing down efforts to limit climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tilo Arnhold

Event:
EU Side Event “Sustainable solutions to combat climate change: contribution of engineers and reducing air pollution” with Dr. Kathleen Mar (IASS), Prof. Andreas Wahner (FZ Jülich) and Prof. Hartmut Herrmann (TROPOS), 03 Dec 2018 at COP24 in Katowice:
https://www.tropos.de/index.php?id=888&L=0
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0124/calendar_en.htm

Links:
Surveying the Arctic: Tracking down carbon particles. (12 Mar 2018)
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/surveying-the-arc…

Healthier Air due to the Low Emission Zone (14 Dec 2017)
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/translate-to-engl…

Manila Aerosol Characterization Experiment (MACE-2015)
https://www.tropos.de/aktuelles/messkampagnen/blogs-und-berichte/mace-2015/

Chacaltaya (5240 m) in Bolivia – The World highest monitoring station for measuring atmospheric composition change (24 Apr 2012)
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/chacaltaya-5240-m…

Chacaltaya GAW Station (CHC)
http://www.chacaltaya.edu.bo/

LaPaz@2020
http://www.bolivie.ird.fr/recherche/projets-de-recherche/environnement-et-ressou…

The Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) is member of the Leibniz Association, which connects 93 independent research institutions that range in focus from the natural, engineering and environmental sciences via economics, spatial and social sciences to the humanities. Leibniz Institutes address issues of social, economic and ecological relevance. They conduct knowledge-driven and applied basic research, maintain scientific infrastructure and provide research-based services.
The Leibniz Association identifies focus areas for knowledge transfer to policy-makers, academia, business and the public. Leibniz institutions collaborate intensively with universities – in the form of “Leibniz ScienceCampi” (thematic partnerships between university and non-university research institutes), for example – as well as with industry and other partners at home and abroad.
They are subject to an independent evaluation procedure that is unparalleled in its transparency. Due to the importance of the institutions for the country as a whole, they are funded jointly by the Federation and the Länder, employing some 19,100 individuals, including 9,900 researchers. The entire budget of all the institutes is approximately 1.9 billion Euros.
https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/home/

Prof. Alfred Wiedensohler
Head of the department Experimental Aerosol and Cloud Microphysics at the Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)
Tel. +49-341-2717-7062
http://www.tropos.de/institut/ueber-uns/mitarbeitende/alfred-wiedensohler/

Dr. Marcos Andrade
Director of the LFA, Coordinator of the CHC-GAW station
Laboratorio de Física de la Atmósfera, IIF-UMSA, Bolivia
Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz
Tel. +591-2799155
http://www.chacaltaya.edu.bo/lfa-bolivia.html

or
Tilo Arnhold
TROPOS Public Relations
Tel. +49-341-2717-7189
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/

Wiedensohler, A., Andrade, M., Weinhold, K., Müller, T., Birmili, W., Velarde, F., Moreno, I., Forno, R., Sanchez, M. F., Laj, P., Ginot, P., Whiteman, D. N., Krejci, R., Sellegri, K., Reichler, T. (2018): Black carbon emission and transport mechanisms to the free troposphere at the La Paz/El Alto (Bolivia) metropolitan area based on the Day of Census (2012). Atmos. Environ., 194, 158-169 p. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.09.032
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.09.032
The study was funded by the European Union within the framework of the H2020 programme (ACTRIS-2), the German Federal Environment Agency (WCCAP), IRD France (CHARME) and the Swedish funding agencies FORMAS and STINT.

https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/translate-to-engl…