The scientific importance of atmospheric reactive gases and aerosols and the particular case of the Mediterranean region

François Dulac*, Stéphane Sauvage, Eric Hamonou, Uri Dayan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chemistry of the lower Earth's atmosphere is subject to intensive research because it is recognized as an important component of the Earth system, especially at the regional scale, impacting human health and mortality, the regional climate, visibility, building materials, terrestrial ecosystems, as well as freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems. It is also deeply related to anthropogenic pressure, especially in a climate change context. Air quality studies over the Mediterranean region show relatively high levels of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and tropospheric ozone compared with northern and central regions of Europe. Both anthropogenic (transport sector, industrial processes, energy production, biomass burning, among others) and natural (African dust, resuspension, sea spray, forest fires, living vegetation, bio-secondary organic compounds) emissions, as well as orographic and climatic factors, contribute to making the specificity of the Mediterranean atmospheric environment. High levels of atmospheric background concentrations of pollutants are observed, and impacts of air pollution on climate, health, and ecosystems are already of concern and could still increase in the future.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAtmospheric Chemistry in the Mediterranean Region
Subtitle of host publicationVolume 1 - Background Information and Pollutant Distribution
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Pages29-60
Number of pages32
ISBN (Electronic)9783031127410
ISBN (Print)9783031127403
DOIs
StatePublished - 22 Jul 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Aerosol optical depth
  • Aerosols
  • Anthropogenic emissions
  • Atmospheric chemistry
  • Atmospheric pollution
  • Biogeochemical impact
  • Chemical processes
  • Chemistry-Climate interactions
  • Climate change
  • Deposition
  • Emissions
  • Health impacts
  • Hotspot
  • Impacts
  • Mediterranean atmosphere
  • Natural emissions
  • Ozone
  • Precipitation
  • Processes
  • Radiative forcing
  • Reactive gases
  • Regional scale
  • Sources
  • Transformation
  • Transport
  • Tropospheric chemistry

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