scispace - formally typeset
Journal ArticleDOI

Atmospheric aerosols: composition, transformation, climate and health effects.

Ulrich Pöschl
- 25 Nov 2005 - 
- Vol. 44, Iss: 46, pp 7520-7540
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
The current state of knowledge, major open questions, and research perspectives on the properties and interactions of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on climate and human health are outlined.
Abstract
Aerosols are of central importance for atmospheric chemistry and physics, the biosphere, climate, and public health. The airborne solid and liquid particles in the nanometer to micrometer size range influence the energy balance of the Earth, the hydrological cycle, atmospheric circulation, and the abundance of greenhouse and reactive trace gases. Moreover, they play important roles in the reproduction of biological organisms and can cause or enhance diseases. The primary parameters that determine the environmental and health effects of aerosol particles are their concentration, size, structure, and chemical composition. These parameters, however, are spatially and temporally highly variable. The quantification and identification of biological particles and carbonaceous components of fine particulate matter in the air (organic compounds and black or elemental carbon, respectively) represent demanding analytical challenges. This Review outlines the current state of knowledge, major open questions, and research perspectives on the properties and interactions of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on climate and human health.

read more

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Human health effects of air pollution

TL;DR: Air pollution has both acute and chronic effects on human health, affecting a number of different systems and organs, and ranges from minor upper respiratory irritation to chronic respiratory and heart disease, lung cancer, acute respiratory infections in children and chronic bronchitis in adults.
Journal ArticleDOI

Chemistry of secondary organic aerosol: Formation and evolution of low-volatility organics in the atmosphere

TL;DR: A review of the chemistry of the formation and continuing transformation of low-volatility species in the atmosphere can be found in this article, where the primary focus is chemical processes that can change the volatility of organic compounds: oxidation reactions in the gas phase, reaction in the particle phase, and reaction in either phase over several generations.
Journal ArticleDOI

Primary biological aerosol particles in the atmosphere: a review

TL;DR: A review of the current knowledge on major categories of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP): bacteria and archaea, fungal spores and fragments, pollen, viruses, algae and cyanobacteria, biological crusts and lichens and others like plant or animal fragments and detritus is presented in this article.
Book

Atmospheric chemistry

TL;DR: The field of atmospheric chemistry is very broad, both in the problems addressed and in the approaches taken, and addresses chemistry from the lower to the upper atmosphere, in remote and polluted regions, from marine to continental areas, and both outdoors and indoors.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Nanotoxicology: An Emerging Discipline Evolving from Studies of Ultrafine Particles

TL;DR: Results of older bio-kinetic studies with NSPs and newer epidemiologic and toxicologic studies with airborne ultrafine particles can be viewed as the basis for the expanding field of nanotoxicology, which can be defined as safety evaluation of engineered nanostructures and nanodevices.
Book

Microphysics of Clouds and Precipitation

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on one major aspect of cloud microphysics, which involves the processes that lead to the formation of individual cloud and precipitation particles, and provide an account of the major characteristics of atmospheric aerosol particles.
Journal ArticleDOI

Climate change 2001: The scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

David John Griggs, +1 more
- 01 Aug 2002 - 
TL;DR: The terms of reference of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as discussed by the authors were defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
Journal ArticleDOI

Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle

TL;DR: Human activities are releasing tiny particles (aerosols) into the atmosphere that enhance scattering and absorption of solar radiation, which can lead to a weaker hydrological cycle, which connects directly to availability and quality of fresh water, a major environmental issue of the 21st century.
Journal ArticleDOI

Raman microspectroscopy of soot and related carbonaceous materials: Spectral analysis and structural information

TL;DR: In this article, experimental conditions and mathematical fitting procedures for the collection and analysis of Raman spectra of soot and related carbonaceous materials have been investigated and optimised with a Raman microscope system operated at three different laser excitation wavelengths (514, 633, and 780 nm).
Related Papers (5)

Evolution of Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere

Jose L. Jimenez, +66 more
- 11 Dec 2009 -