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DOE Pulse
  • Number 334  |
  • April 4, 2011

Airborne emissions reveal new model

Regional impacts like biomass burning, forest fires and even cooking food are seemingly causing large amounts of modern carbon to be released into the atmosphere. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Regional impacts like
biomass burning, forest
fires and even cooking food
are seemingly causing large
amounts of modern carbon
to be released into the
atmosphere.
Photo courtesy of NASA.

Regional impacts like biomass burning, forest fires and even cooking food are seemingly causing large amounts of modern carbon to be released into the atmosphere. Scientists at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory demonstrated first-ever model simulations confirming that airborne organic matter surrounding Mexico City is made up of surprisingly large amounts of modern carbon.

The carbon-14 study demonstrates radiocarbon data, traditionally used for archeological studies, have the potential to improve how emissions and formation of organic aerosols are treated in regional atmospheric models. Most current models significantly under-predict organic matter, which is a large fraction the total emissions released. With the new model, researchers can better ascertain the role of human-made and natural sources on climate change.

This research was funded by the DOE's Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research, and Atmospheric System Research program.

[Kristin Manke, 509.372.6011,
kristin.manke@pnl.gov]