Title: “Regional climate modelling and air quality”
Abstract
In this lecture, we will discuss about the fundamentals of regional coupled models where chemistry is simulated online with meteorology. We will emphasize on the inherent processes and feedback between atmospheric pollution and changing weather patterns using wildfires as example. Anthropogenic contribution to the overall fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations has been declining sharply in North America. In contrast, a steep rise in wildfire-induced air pollution events with recent warming is evident in the region. Here, based on coupled fire–climate–ecosystem model simulations, summertime wildfire-induced PM2.5 concentrations are projected to nearly double in North America by the mid-21st century compared to the present. More strikingly, the projected enhancement in fire-induced PM2.5 (∼ 1–2 µg m−3) and its contribution (∼ 15 %–20 %) to the total PM2.5 are distinctively significant in the eastern US. This can be attributed to downwind transport of smoke from future enhancement of wildfires in North America to the eastern US and associated positive climatic feedback on PM2.5, i.e., perturbations in circulation, atmospheric stability, and precipitation. Therefore, the anticipated reductions in PM2.5 from regulatory controls on anthropogenic emissions could be significantly compromised in the future in the densely populated eastern US.
About the Speaker
Chandan Sarangi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He completed his Post Doctorate Research from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA, USA, and Integrated Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur, India. He has extensive experience in Aerosol-cloud-climate interactions; Impact of climate change on Cloud systems and rainfall; Impact of aerosols on Evapotranspiration and land-atmosphere interactions; Effect of dust deposition on snow darkening and Himalayan glaciers; Urban heat island effect and air quality over megacities; Extreme rainfall and coupling with aerosols and urbanization, and Cloud seeding research. He has been part of many cutting edge research teams and have published first author papers in many reputed and high impact journals like Nature Communications, Nature Climate Change, NPJ Climatic and Atmospheric Sciences, Geophysical Research Letters, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics etc. More details about him and his research work can be found at https://civil.iitm.ac.in/faculty/chandansarangi/
