NASA Study Links 'Smog' to Arctic Warming

  • Released Tuesday, February 28, 2006
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In the first global assessment of the impact of ozone on climate warming, scientists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), New York, evaluated how ozone in the lowest part of the atmosphere (the troposphere) changed temperatures over the past 100 years. Using the best available estimates of global emissions of gases that create ozone, the GISS computer model study reveals how much this single air pollutant and greenhouse gas has contributed to warming in specific regions of the world.

Ozone was responsible for one-third to half of the observed warming trend in the Arctic during winter and spring, according to the new research. Ozone is transported from the industrialized countries in the Northern Hemisphere to the Arctic quite efficiently during these seasons. The findings will be published soon in the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.

The impact of ozone air pollution on climate warming is difficult to pinpoint because, unlike other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, ozone does not last long enough in the lower atmosphere to spread uniformly around the globe. Its warming impact is much more closely tied to the region it originated from. To capture this complex picture, the GISS scientists used a suite of three-dimensional computer models that starts with data on ozone sources and then tracks how ozone chemically evolved and moved around the world over the past century.

The research was supported by NASA's Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program.

This animation shows anomalous arctic temperature from 1880 through 2000. The North Polar region remains at normal temperatures (shown in grey) until 1950 when warmer temperatures (shown in red) appear.

Temperature Colorbar

Temperature Colorbar

1880 - This image shows a decadal winter and spring seasonal average in the months of December through May between 1880 and 1889. Notice the arctic region is at or below average.

1880 - This image shows a decadal winter and spring seasonal average in the months of December through May between 1880 and 1889. Notice the arctic region is at or below average.

1890 - This image shows a decadal winter and spring seasonal average between 1890 and 1899. The northern polar region warms slightly above normal.

1890 - This image shows a decadal winter and spring seasonal average between 1890 and 1899. The northern polar region warms slightly above normal.

1900 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows normal temperatures at the North Pole.

1900 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows normal temperatures at the North Pole.

1910 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows colder than normal temperatures at the North Pole.

1910 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows colder than normal temperatures at the North Pole.

1920 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warming temperatures, but the North Pole remains at a normal temperature.

1920 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warming temperatures, but the North Pole remains at a normal temperature.

1930 - This decadal winter and spring seasona average shows normal temperatures in the North Pole region.

1930 - This decadal winter and spring seasona average shows normal temperatures in the North Pole region.

1940 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows normal temperatures at the North Pole.

1940 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows normal temperatures at the North Pole.

1950 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warming temperatures, but the temperature at the North Pole remains normal.

1950 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warming temperatures, but the temperature at the North Pole remains normal.

1960 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warming temperatures.

1960 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warming temperatures.

1970 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warmer temperatures at the North Pole.

1970 - This decadal winter and spring seasonal average shows warmer temperatures at the North Pole.

1980 - This decadal winter and spring average shows the temperatures are slightly cooler then the previous period, but still warmer then normal at the pole.

1980 - This decadal winter and spring average shows the temperatures are slightly cooler then the previous period, but still warmer then normal at the pole.

1990- This decadal winter and spring average also shows warmer temperatures at the North Pole.

1990- This decadal winter and spring average also shows warmer temperatures at the North Pole.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Tuesday, February 28, 2006.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:55 PM EDT.

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