Sunday, March 28, 2010

Contrails, (Kerosene, Water Vapor, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Carbon Dioxide), Ozone and Climate

Contrails, (Kerosene, Water Vapor, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Carbon Dioxide), Ozone and Climate.

This one is so huge it defies easy description.  Some info and links, more to be added. I've spent months on this, just starting to collate and make some sense of it.


Cirrus clouds are formed when water vapor freezes into ice crystals at altitudes above 8000 meters (26,000 ft).

The stratosphere is situated between about 10 km (6 miles) and 50 km (31 miles) altitude above the surface at moderate latitudes, while at the poles it starts at about 8 km (5 miles)  altitude.

The Antarctic ozone hole is produced every spring over the earth's south pole because of the special conditions that are present in the stratosphere over Antarctica and the presence of completely anthropogenic chemicals spilled into the environment called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).


Since 1974 scientists have known that chlorine can destroy ozone, but no one thought the destruction would be very rapid. Events over the Antarctic region proved them wrong. The ozone hole story began at Halley Bay in Antarctica, where British scientists had been measuring ozone in the atmosphere since 1957. In 1976 they detected a 10% drop in ozone levels during September, October, and November—the Antarctic spring.
Since ozone concentrations over this region often vary from season to season, the researchers weren't concerned, even as the springtime declines occurred repeatedly. It wasn't until their instruments registered record low levels of ozone in 1983 that they realized something important was happening. By then, record springtime ozone declines had occurred during seven of the previous eight years.

Using satellite images of sea ice and computer models the scientists discovered that the ozone hole has strengthened surface winds around Antarctica and deepened the storms in the South Pacific area of the Southern Ocean that surrounds the continent. This resulted in greater flow of cold air over the Ross Sea (West Antarctica) leading to more ice production in this region.

Fact: There is no such thing as a "Chemtrail". Contrails are safe and are a natural phenomenon. They pose no health hazard of any kind.


Abstract. This study is devoted to the possible presence of cirrus clouds in the stratosphere.

Abstract  The distribution of many  chemical constituents of the atmosphere (e.g., ozone) is at least  partially determined by the distribution of net radiative heating in the atmosphere. In this paper, we demonstrate the significant effect of high cirrus clouds on the net radiative heating of the tropical lower stratosphere.

Using simulations, we determine the influence of stratospheric aerosol and thin cirrus clouds on the performance of the proposed atmospheric correction algorithm for the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data over the oceans.

Nitrous oxide is emitted from natural sources and as a byproduct of agricultural fertilization and other industrial processes. Calculating the effect on the ozone layer now and in the future, NOAA researchers found that emissions of nitrous oxide from human activities erode the ozone layer and will continue to do so for many
decades.


The recent SUCCESS measurements made right behind jet engines reveal that the sulfuric acid forms either within the engine or immediately after it is ejected, says Anderson.
What this observation means for clouds and climate remains unclear. Yet many meteorologists think that increasing jet traffic in the last several  decades has altered weather in noticeable ways.
In 1981, climatologist Stanley A. Changnon of the Illinois State Water Survey in Champaign reported that the Midwest had grown significantly cloudier during the 1960s and 1970s, with the greatest changes seen in areas of high jet traffic.
He also noted a narrowing of the gap between high and low temperatures, possibly attributable to the increase in clouds.