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Study finds anthropogenic PM and dust undercutting global solar energy production

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According to a new study led by a team at Duke University, airborne particulate matter and dust are cutting solar photovoltaic energy output by more than 25% in certain parts of the world, with roughly equal contributions from ambient PM and PM deposited on photovoltaic surfaces. Credit: ACS, Bergin et al. Click to enlarge.

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UCI-led study finds California’s strict air quality regulations have helped farmers

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They found that reductions in ground ozone during this 35-year period resulted in $600 million in increased production annually by the early 2010s. These aren’t the things that are providing the global population with its main source of calories. An open-access paper on the work appears in Nature Food. —Steven Davis.

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Reducing Black Carbon Emissions and Ground-Level Ozone Would Provide Immediate Benefit Against Climate Change

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Reducing emissions of black carbon soot and ground-level ozone would quickly make a considerable dent in the climate change problem and would also contribute to public health and protect crop yields, according to an essay in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs. Besides a danger to breathe, ozone lowers crop yields.

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Test of Planet-Cooling Scheme Could Start in 2022

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Up there, 10 to 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, ozone molecules absorb the sun’s ultraviolet light, protecting life far below. The proposal calls for what’s known as “solar geoengineering”: cooling the planet by deflecting sunlight that would otherwise strike the planet. Concentrations of greenhouse gases are at.

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Northwestern/Princeton study explores air quality impacts of aggressive conversion to EVs

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The exponentially increasing global market share of EVs has prompted research on their efficacy in reducing greenhouse gases, but comparatively little effort has focused on their impact on air quality. Among the findings: Summer surface ozone (O 3 ) decreases in most locations due to widespread reductions of traffic NO x emissions.

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Study Finds Controlling Soot May Be Fastest Method to Reduce Arctic Ice Loss and Global Warming; Second-Leading Cause of Global Warming After CO2

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Controlling soot from fossil fuels and solid biofuels may be a faster method of reducing Arctic ice loss and global warming than other options, including controlling CH 4 or CO 2 , although all controls are needed, according to a new study by Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson at Stanford University. He also found that soot emissions kill more than 1.5

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California 2017 GHG inventory shows 1.2% total drop from 2016; transportation sector emissions up 1%

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Other notable highlights in the inventory include: For the first time since California started to track GHG emissions, in-state and total electricity generation from zero-GHG sources (for purposes of the GHG inventory, these include solar, hydro, wind, and nuclear) exceeded generation from GHG-emitting sources.

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