What are black carbon (BC) aerosols and Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABC), and in what way to they exacerbate or add to air pollution and global and regional climate warming? What is the scale of the problem? Are there indirect affects of BC and ABC as well? Which regions of the U.S., Asia and rest of the world seem most affected by BC and ABC? What are these affects and how do these intersect and interact with greenhouse gases and global warming? Are there policy opportunities? Is there now a scientific basis for a direct causal link between CO2 emissions and health? From the perspective of air pollution, does controlling carbon dioxide have a robust scientific basis?

Moderator:
Dr. Anthony Socci, Senior Science Fellow, American Meteorological Society

Speakers:

Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Professor by Courtesy of Energy Resources Engineering; Director, Atmosphere/Energy Program; and Senior Fellow by Courtesy, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Dr. V. Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor of Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, Victor C. Alderson Professor of Applied Ocean Sciences Chairman, Atmospheric Brown Clouds Project (UNEP Sponsored) Director, Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA

Program Summary
http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/ESSSSummaryPrint05162008.html

Presentations:

Contribution of Black Carbon and Atmospheric Brown Clouds to Climate Warming: Impacts and Opportunities [.pdf, 4188.9Kb]

On the Causal Link Between Carbon Dioxide and Air Pollution Mortality [.pdf, 3888.4Kb]

For more info: http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/EnvironmentalScienceSeminarSeries.html