Asian Atmospheric Pollution


Book Description

Asian Atmospheric Pollution: Sources, Characteristics and Impacts provides a concise yet comprehensive treatment of all aspects of pollution and air quality monitoring, across all of Asia. It focuses on key regions of the world and details a variety of sources, their transport mechanism, long term variability and impacts on climate at local and regional scales. It also discusses the feedback on pollutants, on different meteorological parameters like radiative forcing, fog formations, precipitation, cloud characteristics and more. Drawing upon the expertise of multiple well-known authors from different countries to underline some of these key issues, it includes sections dedicated to treatment of pollutant sources, studying of pollutants and trace gases using satellite/station based observations and models, transport mechanisms, seasonal and inter-annual variability and impact on climate, health and biosphere in general. Asian Atmospheric Pollution: Sources, Characteristics and Impacts is a useful resource for scientists and students to understand the sources and dynamics of atmospheric pollution as well as their transport from one continent to other continents, helping the atmospheric modelling community to model different scenarios of the pollution, gauge its short term and long term impacts across regional to global scales and better understand the ramifications of episodic events. - Covers all of Asia in detail in terms of pollution - Focuses not only on local pollution, but on long-term transport of these pollutants and their impacts on other regions as well as the globe - Includes discussion of both particulate matter and greenhouse gases - Serves as a single resource on Asian air pollution and Impacts from the most current research across the globe including the US, Asia, Africa and Europe




Land-Atmospheric Research Applications in South and Southeast Asia


Book Description

This edited volume sheds new light on the impact of rapid Land Use/Cover Changes (LU/CC) on greenhouse gases (GHG’s) and aerosol emissions in South and Southeast Asia. Several countries in South/Southeast Asia have the highest population growth rates in the world, which is the main cause for LU/CC. Conversion of dense forests to agricultural areas and then to residential and urban areas is most commonly observed in South/Southeast Asian countries with a significant release of GHG’s and aerosols. The book showcases several case studies on the use of remote sensing and geospatial technologies to quantify biomass burning and air pollution impacts, aerosol pollution, LU/CC, and impacts on ecosystem services. The book also includes articles on regional initiatives in research, capacity building, and training. The authors of this book are international experts in the field, and their contributions highlight significant drivers and impacts of air pollution in South/Southeast Asia. Readers will discover the latest tools and techniques, in particular, the use of satellite remote sensing and geospatial technologies for quantifying GHG’s, aerosols and pollution episodes in this region.




Biomass Burning in South and Southeast Asia


Book Description

Volume 1 of a two volume set, this book is a self-contained, state-of-the-art analysis of remote sensing, ground-based, and spatial techniques used for characterizing biomass burning events and pollution. It is a collective achievement of renowned scientists working throughout South and Southeast Asia. They discuss the complexity of vegetation patterns, biomass characteristics, fire distribution, drivers of fires, and several examples of the use of novel satellite algorithms for mapping and monitoring biomass burning events. The book is highly interdisciplinary and integrates earth science and environmental science including ecology, fire science, spatial geography, remote sensing, and geospatial technologies. Unique in its discussion of the sources and the causes of biomass burning and atmospheric research in South and Southeast Asia. Explains how remote sensing and geospatial technologies help the mapping and monitoring of biomass burning events and their impacts. Focuses on large spatial scales integrating top-down and bottom-up methodologies. Addresses the pressing issues of environmental pollution that are rampant in South and Southeast Asia. Includes contributions from global experts actually working on biomass burning projects in the US, Japan, South/Southeast Asia, and Europe. This book will serve as a valuable source of information for remote sensing scientists, geographers, ecologists, atmospheric scientists, environmental scientists, and all who wish to advance their knowledge on fires and biomass burning in South/Southeast Asia.




Biomass Burning in South and Southeast Asia, Two Volume Set


Book Description

The increasing intensity and frequency of natural disasters all around the world has caused severe socioeconomic impacts, especially in South and Southeast Asia. This region is particularly susceptible to vegetation fires, leading to biomass burning pollution with impacts on other countries through trans-boundary air pollution. Despite the growing body of information on biomass pollutants worldwide, only a modest amount of data from these regions are available. With fires and biomass burning identified as a vital issue in South/Southeast Asia, this two-volume set was created to meet community research and application needs. To better serve the atmospheric, environmental, and remote sensing communities, and to address air quality, climate, and the human health impacts of greenhouse gases and aerosols from biomass burning, this set brings together the collective achievements of experts in these regions and the state-of-the-art technologies and spatial analyses to model and monitor biomass burning events and their impacts. This first volume covers various topics on fire, biomass burning, mapping and monitoring while the second volume highlights the impact of biomass burning on the biosphere and reflects extensive research by interdisciplinary teams of experts. This set will serve as a valuable resource for remote sensing scientist, geographers, ecologists, atmospheric scientists, environmental scientists, and all who wish to advance their knowledge on fires, biomass burning, and biomass burning pollution in South/Southeast Asia Specific Features: Unique in its discussion of the sources and the causes of biomass burning and atmospheric research in South and Southeast Asia. Explains how remote sensing and geospatial technologies help the mapping and monitoring of biomass burning events and their impacts. Focuses on large spatial scales integrating top-down and bottom-up methodologies. Addresses the pressing issues of environmental pollution that are rampant in South and Southeast Asia. Includes contributions from global experts currently working on biomass burning projects in the US, Japan, South/Southeast Asia, and Europe.




Indonesia's Fires and Haze


Book Description

From September to November of 1997, raging fires in Indonesia pumped enough smoke into the air to blanket the entire region in haze, reaching as far north as southern Thailand and the Philippines, with Malaysia and Singapore being particularly affected. This book conservatively assesses the damage at US $4.5 billion, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill and India's Bhopal chemical spill combined. It looks at the causes of the fires, the physical damages that resulted, and their effects on heath, industrial production, and tourism, among others.




Global Biomass Burning


Book Description

This comprehensive volume is the first to consider biomass burning as a global phenomenon and to assess its impact on the atmosphere, on climate, and on the biosphere itself.




Fire, Smoke, and Haze


Book Description

This publication, a joint effort of ADB and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), brings together the current knowledge about land and forest fires, examines their causes and impacts with particular reference to Southeast Asia, and suggests what could happen in the future.




Tropical Fire Ecology


Book Description

The tropics are home to most of the world’s biodiversity and are currently the frontier for human settlement. Tropical ecosystems are being converted to agricultural and other land uses at unprecedented rates. Land conversion and maintenance almost always rely on fire and, because of this, fire is now more prevalent in the tropics than anywhere else on Earth. Despite pervasive fire, human settlement and threatened biodiversity, there is little comprehensive information available on fire and its effects in tropical ecosystems. Tropical deforestation, especially in rainforests, has been widely documented for many years. Forests are cut down and allowed to dry before being burned to remove biomass and release nutrients to grow crops. However, fires do not always stop at the borders of cleared forests. Tremendously damaging fires are increasingly spreading into forests that were never evolutionarily prepared for wild fires. The largest fires on the planet in recent decades have occurred in tropical forests and burned millions of hectares in several countries. The numerous ecosystems of the tropics have differing levels of fire resistance, resilience or dependence. At present, there is little appreciation of the seriousness of the wild fire situation in tropical rainforests but there is even less understanding of the role that fire plays in the ecology of many fire adapted tropical ecosystems, such as savannas, grasslands and other forest types.




Fire in the Tropical Biota


Book Description

In 1977, the Volkswagen Foundation sponsored the first of a series of International Symposia on Fire Ecology at Freiburg University, Federal Republic of Germany. The scope of the congresses was to create a platform for researchers at a time when the science of fire ecology was not yet recognized and established outside of North America and Australia. Whereas comprehensive information on the fire ecology of the northern boreal, the temperate, and the mediter ranean biotas is meanwhile available, it was recognized that conside rable gaps in information exist on the role of fire in tropical und sub tropical ecosystems. Thus it seemed timely to meet the growing scientific interest and public demand for reliable and updated infor mation and to synthesize the available knowledge of tropical fire ecology and the impact of tropical biomass burning on global eco system processes. The Third Symposium on Fire Ecology, again sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation and held at Freiburg University in May 1989, was convened to prepare this first pantropical and multidisci plinary monograph on fire ecology!. The book, in which 46 scientists cooperated, analyzes those fire-related ecosystem processes which have not yet been described in a synoptic way. Following the editor's concept, duplication at previous efforts in describing tropical vegeta tion patterns and dynamics was avoided. Extensive bibliographical sources are given in the reference lists of the chapters.




WHO global air quality guidelines


Book Description

The main objective of these updated global guidelines is to offer health-based air quality guideline levels, expressed as long-term or short-term concentrations for six key air pollutants: PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. In addition, the guidelines provide interim targets to guide reduction efforts of these pollutants, as well as good practice statements for the management of certain types of PM (i.e., black carbon/elemental carbon, ultrafine particles, particles originating from sand and duststorms). These guidelines are not legally binding standards; however, they provide WHO Member States with an evidence-informed tool, which they can use to inform legislation and policy. Ultimately, the goal of these guidelines is to help reduce levels of air pollutants in order to decrease the enormous health burden resulting from the exposure to air pollution worldwide.