̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - John Pyle

Scientists develop new method to assess ozone layer recovery

sc604 — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 14:58:39 +0000

Published in the journal Nature, their method - the Integrated Ozone Depletion (IOD) metric - provides a useful tool for policymakers and scientists.

̽��ֱ��IOD has been designed to provide a straightforward way to measure the effects of unregulated emissions of substances that deplete the ozone layer, and evaluate how effective ozone layer protection measures are.

̽��ֱ��ozone layer is found in a region of the earth’s atmosphere known as the stratosphere, and acts as an important protection barrier against most of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

Ozone-depleting gases such as chlorofluorocarbons, better known as CFCs, have been phased out under the Montreal Protocol - an international treaty agreed to protect the ozone layer.

̽��ֱ��Montreal Protocol has been largely successful, but illegal breaches are jeopardising its efficacy.

̽��ֱ��IOD indicates the impact of any new emissions on the ozone layer by considering three things: the strength of the emission, how long it will remain in the atmosphere, and how much ozone is chemically destroyed by it.

For environmental protection and human health policies, the IOD represents a simple means of calculating the impact of any given emission scenario on ozone recovery.

This new metric has been developed by researchers at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the National Centre for Earth Observation at the ̽��ֱ�� of Leeds.

Professor John Pyle, from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, has dedicated his career to studying the depletion of ozone in the stratosphere and helping develop the Montreal Protocol. He is the lead author of the current Nature paper.

“Following the Montreal Protocol, we are now in a new phase - assessing the recovery of the ozone layer,” said Pyle, from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry. “This new phase calls for new metrics, like the Integrated Ozone Depletion - which we refer to as the IOD. Our new metric can measure the impact of emissions - regardless of their size. Using an atmospheric chemistry computer model, we have been able to demonstrate a simple linear relationship between the IOD, the size of the emissions and the chemical lifetimes. So, with knowledge of the lifetimes, it is a simple matter to calculate the IOD, making this an excellent metric both for science and policy.”

“ ̽��ֱ��Montreal Protocol is successfully protecting the ozone layer, but there is increasing evidence to suggest the ozone hole is recovering slower than expected. ̽��ֱ��IOD will be very useful for monitoring ozone recovery, and especially relevant to regulators who need to phase out substances with the potential to chemically destroy ozone.”

̽��ֱ��IOD metric has been created using a computer model of the atmosphere, called the UK Chemistry and Aerosols model (UKCA). ̽��ֱ��National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the Met Office developed the UKCA model to calculate future projections of important chemicals, such as ozone in the stratosphere.

“We have used the UKCA model to develop the IOD metric, which will enable us to estimate the effect of any new illegal or unregulated emissions on the ozone layer. In the UKCA model we can perform experiments with different types and concentrations of CFCs, and other ozone-depleting substances,” said co-author Dr Luke Abraham, also from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. “We can estimate how chemicals in the atmosphere will change in the future, and assess their impact on the ozone layer over the coming century.”

̽��ֱ��research was supported in part by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Reference:
John A Pyle et al. ‘Integrated ozone depletion as a metric for ozone recovery.’ Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04968-8

Adapted from a press release by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science.

Researchers have developed a new method for assessing the impacts of ozone-destroying substances that threaten the recovery of the ozone layer.

̽��ֱ��Montreal Protocol is successfully protecting the ozone layer, but there is increasing evidence to suggest the ozone hole is recovering slower than expected

John Pyle

Grant Faint via Getty Images

View of Earth from 40,000 feet

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̽��ֱ�� people recognised in 2017 New Year Honours list

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 22:30:00 +0000

Ottoline Leyser (above left) is Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory. She becomes a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to Plant Science, Science in Society and Equality and Diversity in Science.

Dame Ottoline’s research aims to understand how plants adjust their growth and development to suit the environmental conditions in which they are growing. In particular, she is studying how plants change the number of shoot branches they produce depending on factors such as nutrient supply and damage to the main shoot. She is particularly interested in the roles and mechanisms of action of plant hormones such as auxin. She is a Fellow of Clare College.

“This is a huge honour,” said Dame Ottoline. “It’s so uplifting that things I really care about can be celebrated in this extraordinary way. Science has such a lot to offer the world, which makes it really important that science is open to all, so that everyone can contribute to the process and benefit from the results.”

Shankar Balasubramanian (above right) is Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and Fellow of Trinity College. He has been named a Knight Bachelor for services to science and medicine. He co-invented next generation sequencing which has provided the most transformative change in biology and medicine for several decades, and has led to the $1000 dollar human genome. He has also made important contributions to four-stranded DNA, known as G-quadruplexes, and their role in cancer.

“It is a great honour for me and a wonderful acknowledgement of the research and I have carried out in Cambridge with my co-workers and collaborators over the past two decades,” said Sir Shankar. “I was particularly pleased to see recognition of our basic science and its impact on medicine, as I am jointly appointed between the Departments of Chemistry and Medicine.”

Professor John Pyle, Head of the Department of Chemistry, is appointed CBE for services to Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Science. Professor Pyle’s research uses of state-of-the-art numerical models, run on supercomputers, to study the processes controlling the present state of the atmosphere and its evolution. He is a Fellow of St Catharine’s College.

"I'm delighted, of course," said Pyle. "We are the best chemistry department in the country and one of the very best in the world. It's fantastic for the department to get recognition for that work."

Professor John Spencer, Bye Fellow in Law at Murray Edwards College, Life Fellow of Selwyn College and Professor Emeritus of Law, is also appointed CBE for services to the Reform of Law Concerning Child Witnesses. His interests include criminal law, criminal evidence, comparative criminal law, and the law of tort. He has been involved in a great many of projects for law reform, including as a Consultant to the Law Commission on a project to reform the hearsay rule in 1995; as a member of a committee of experts set up by the European Commission to study fraud on the Community finances, and as a member of the Home Office group that drafted “Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings” (1999-2001). He was also a consultant to the Auld Review of Criminal Courts in 2001.

Professor Jane Francis, Director of the British Antarctic Survey and Fellow of Darwin College, is appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for services UK Polar Science and Diplomacy. She was only the fourth woman in history to receive the Polar Medal in 2002. Since being appointed Director of BAS in 2013, she has had a dual role of ensuring UK scientific polar excellence and promoting British sovereign interests in Antarctica. As the first female Director, she has embraced gender diversity and has been an inspiration and influential figure in the British scientific establishment. She is globally recognised as a leader in Polar Science and has made a significant contribution to our understanding of palaeo-climates. She has also undertaken a wide range of international roles which further promote the UK’s polar interests and sits on polar science advisory boards for other countries.

Professor Peter Weissberg, former Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation and Fellow of Wolfson College, has been awarded a CBE for services to medical research and cardiovascular health. Prior to his tenure at the BHF, Professor Weissberg established the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cambridge and spent ten years as the ̽��ֱ��’s first BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Distinguished members of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have been named in the 2017 New Year Honours list, announced today. Professor Ottoline Leyser, Professor Shankar Balasubramanian and Professor John Pyle are among those who have been recognised for their contributions to society.

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Understanding the Paris Climate Summit

sc604 — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 11:44:21 +0000

From 30 November to 11 December, the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11), will be taking place in Paris. Paris 2015 will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

An event taking place on Monday (16 November), organised by the Cambridge Centre for Climate Science (CCfCS), aims to provide insight into the scientific and political landscape leading up to the Paris summit and beyond.

̽��ֱ��speakers at ‘Understanding the Paris Climate Summit’ will discuss some of the climate research taking place at Cambridge, and how it relates to the negotiations taking place in Paris.

“ ̽��ֱ��Paris summit is hugely significant, but it will be primarily focused on the political issues surrounding climate change,” said Professor Peter Haynes of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and one of the founding members of CCfCS. “There’s a breadth of climate-related research in science and technology happening at the ̽��ֱ��, and we want to continue to build on that.”

Speakers at Monday’s event will be Sir David King, UK Special Representative for Climate Change, who played a key role in many of the pre-Paris negotiations; Professor Sir Richard Friend from the ̽��ֱ��’s Cavendish Laboratory, who will discuss future energy prospects; Dr Emily Shuckburgh from the British Antarctic Survey, who will share her personal view of what we know and what we don't know about climate science; and Professor John Pyle from the Department of Chemistry, who will discuss why the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer worked, and why similar protocols to control carbon emissions have been much more difficult.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Centre for Climate Science (CCfCS) has been established to promote research and other activities in Climate Science going on at several Departments of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge (Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Archaeology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Geography, Plant Sciences and Scott Polar Research Institute) and at the British Antarctic Survey.

All members of the ̽��ֱ�� are welcome to attend – the full programme is available here. Online registration, while not required, would be helpful for the organisers to determine numbers.

An event taking place next week in Cambridge will highlight some of the key scientific, technological and policy issues relevant to the Paris climate summit which begins later this month.

There’s a breadth of climate-related research in science and technology happening at the ̽��ֱ��, and we want to continue to build on that.

Peter Haynes

Gerald Simmons

Melting Ice Caps

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Pollution on the move – human activity in East Asia negatively affects air quality in remote tropical forests

sc604 — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 12:00:01 +0000

Researchers from the UK and Malaysia have detected a human fingerprint deep in the Borneo rainforest in Southeast Asia. Cold winds blowing from the north carry industrial pollutants from East Asia to the equator, with implications for air quality in the region. Once there, the pollutants can travel higher into the atmosphere and impact the ozone layer. ̽��ֱ��research is published today (31 March) in the open access journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Rainforests are often associated with pure, unpolluted air, but in Borneo air quality is very much dependent on which way the wind blows. “On several occasions during northern hemisphere winter, pockets of cold air can move quickly southwards across Asia towards southern China and onward into the South China Sea,” said lead author Matthew Ashfold, who conducted the research while at the ̽��ֱ��’s Department of Chemistry, and who is now based at the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

In a new study, the researchers show that these ‘cold surges’ can very quickly transport polluted air from countries such as China to remote parts of equatorial Southeast Asia. ̽��ֱ��pollution travels about 1000 km per day, crossing the South China Sea in just a couple of days.

̽��ֱ��researchers were initially looking for chemical compounds of natural origin: they wanted to test whether the oceans around Borneo were a source of bromine and chlorine, compounds which can affect stratospheric ozone levels. They designed their experiments to measure these gases, but also detected another gas called perchloroethene, or perc, in the air samples they collected from two locations in the Borneo rainforest. Perc is a common ‘marker’ for pollution because it does not have natural sources.

In order to find out where the man-made gas came from, and where it might go, the researchers used a UK Met Office computer model of atmospheric transport to look back in time and determine where the collected air samples had travelled from. ̽��ֱ��experiments suggest the high levels of perc in the air samples were influenced by East Asian pollution.

Perc is produced in a number of industrial and commercial processes, such as dry cleaning and metal degreasing, and exposure to large amounts (above about 100 parts per million) can affect human health. While global emissions of perc have declined in the past 20 years or so, it is not clear whether this has been the case in East Asia, where air pollution has increased over the same period.

̽��ֱ��levels of perc measured in Borneo are low, at a few parts per trillion. But since the gas does not occur naturally, even small concentrations are a sign that other more common pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and ozone, could be present. Ozone, for example, can damage forests in high concentrations, as it reduces plant growth.

̽��ֱ��team’s measurements showed the amounts of perc varied strongly over the course of about a week, and models they analysed indicated this variation to be related to similar changes in carbon monoxide and ozone. During the one cold surge event the team studied in detail, levels of these pollutants over Borneo appeared to be double typical levels.

But diminished air quality in the remote rainforest is not the only way East Asia pollution affects the tropics. “ ̽��ֱ��atmosphere over Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific is home to unusually strong and deep thunderstorms during the northern hemisphere winter. Because of this, the region is an important source of air for the stratosphere,” said Ashfold.

In their study the researchers show that, once in the deep tropics, the polluted air is lifted towards the upper atmosphere. This can introduce a range of industrial chemicals with atmospheric lifetimes of just a few months to the stratosphere, which could have a potentially negative impact on the ozone layer.

“This work shows how quickly increasing pollution in southeast Asia can reach the Borneo rainforest, and even the upper atmosphere,” said Dr Neil Harris of the ̽��ֱ��’s Department of Chemistry, one of the paper’s co-authors. “It means that short-lived compounds, including some ozone-depleting substances, can reach the ozone layer within a couple of weeks. This effect could become more important if emissions of these pollutants continue to increase. At a simple level, it still amazes me how connected our atmosphere is.”

New analysis shows that pollution from human activity in East Asia is having a negative effect on air quality in tropical rainforests thousands of kilometres away, and could harm the ozone layer if levels continue to increase.

This work shows how quickly increasing pollution in southeast Asia can reach the Borneo rainforest, and even the upper atmosphere

Neil Harris

Ch'ien C. Lee

Borneo rainforest

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