Asian monsoon: the cause of dispersing pollutants

The economic development of Asia over the years has meant increased pollution.

According to a new study, during the Asian monsoon period pollutants emit the most strongly into the upper atmosphere, making them longer lasting in the air and spreading globally.

Monsoon is a means of transporting pollutants to the stratosphere - Photo: Blogspot.com

The findings, detailed in the current issue of Science, show that the impact of pollutants from Asia on the stratosphere will increase sharply in the coming decades due to strong industrial activity. in China and other developing countries.

William Randel, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and colleagues have argued that the Asian monsoon could form gas pits in the lower atmosphere, calling is the troposphere and the funnel's tail is pointing up.

Based on satellite measurements, the level of ozone, water vapor and other chemicals in the stratosphere can always be unusually high in the summer sky in Asia (Monsoon is the changing seasons of the wind, tends to be more rainy and uncomfortable weather).

The team used a chemical called hydrogen cyanide - often produced by burned plants - as a marker to track the movement of air masses in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer months. The team also examined data on hydrogen cyanide measured by satellites in both atmospheric layers above the monsoon region. Observations show that hydrogen cyanide exists in the atmosphere for many years before being broken down into other chemicals. It moves above the tropics along with other pollutants, including substances that cause acid rain and damage the ozone layer, then spread out globally.

Scientists also use computers to simulate the movement of hydrogen cyanide and many pollutants such as carbon black, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from various sources, mainly industrial sources. The computer model has shown that pollutants spread in large areas of Asia, from India to China and Indonesia, thanks to the monsoon winds have moved to the upper levels of the atmosphere.

When it reached the stratosphere, pollutants had 'traveled' around the world for many years, some deposited on the lower layer, some decomposed.

Randel, the chair of the study, said: "The monsoon is one of the systems that cause the greatest rotation on the planet, and comes from heavily polluted countries in Asia. transporting pollutants to the stratosphere '.

Source: LiveScience