A new paper in Nature Geoscience written by an international team of scientists led by Dr. Luke Western of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that atmospheric abundances and emissions of five chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) increased between 2010 and 2020, despite the 2010 Montreal Protocol that banned CFC production for dispersive use.
A UMD alum and professor co-authored a paper about the reduction in the thickness of Earth’s protective ozone layer that followed the Australian wildfires.
Ross Salawitch has been elected as an American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Fellow. He joins 53 other individuals in the 2022 Class of Fellows. Since 1962, the AGU Union Fellows Committee has selected less than 0.1% of members as new Fellows. AGU, a nonprofit organization that supports 130,000 enthusiasts to experts worldwide in Earth and space sciences, annually recognizes a select number of individuals as part of its Honors and Recognition program.
In the newly released 2022 Top Scientist rankings by Research.com, 18 University of Maryland researchers ranked among the Top 1,000 Environmental Sciences researchers in the United States, and seven ranked among the Top 1,000 worldwide. Of those 18 UMD scientists, 6 are ESSIC scientists.
Research conducted by ESSIC/AOSC scientist Ross J. Salawitch is featured in a new Washington Post article on the North Pole ozone hole that formed last year.
In 1986, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemical compounds known to break down ozone in the atmosphere, were banned by the Montreal Protocol. This led to an immediate rapid decline in emissions. However, recent studies have shown that CFC-11 emissions have increased, suggesting a contribution from eastern Asia.
There is a race going on high in the atmosphere above the Arctic, and the ozone layer that protects Earth from damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation will lose the race if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced quickly enough.
From revoking the permit on the Keystone XL natural gas pipeline to starting the process of reversing Trump-era polices on national monuments, endangered lands and species, and energy exploration, the environment stands near the top of President Joe Biden’s immediate agenda. The centerpiece was an Inauguration Day executive order to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, negotiated by the nations of the world (with key oversight from a Terp) to head off the devastating effects of climate change, from famines to coastal flooding.
ESSIC/CISESS Professors Ross Salawitch and Russell R.Dickerson as well as ESSIC/CISESS Assistant Research Professor Hao He have a new paper in Atmospheric Environment titled “Using near-road observations of CO, NOy, and CO2 to investigate emissions from vehicles: Evidence for an impact of ambient temperature and specific humidity”. The paper’s co-authors also include Dolly Hall, Xinrong Ren, and Timothy Canty from the University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Jennifer C. Hains, Daniel C. Anderson, and Cory R. Martin.
ESSIC scientist Ross Salawitch was recently interviewed in “Envirocast”, a weekly environmental podcast hosted by Dylan Westheimer, a 14-year-old based in California. In the podcast, Salawitch is interviewed on the Paris Climate Accord, the international agreement meant to limit global warming, in anticipation of President-Elect Joe Biden’s promise to rejoin this agreement.
