| Session Details | |
| Section | AS - Atmospheric Sciences |
| Session Title | Asian Haze: Sources, Transformation and Its Impacts from Regional to Global Scales |
| Main Convener | Dr. Hsiang-He Lee (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Jianmin Chen (Fudan University, China) Dr. Tong Zhu (Peking University, China) Prof. Mikinori Kuwata (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) |
| Session Description | Particulate pollutants and associated gases from fossil and biomass burning cause persistent haze and other environmental issues worldwide. In particular throughout Asia, severe haze events caused by particulate pollution have become more intense and frequent in recent years, degrading air quality and ecosystem at large, threatening human health, and interrupting economic and societal activities. Particulate matter, due to its interactions with radiation and clouds, plays an important role in the chemistry, physics, and dynamics of the atmosphere and can have a significant impact on the regional and global climate. Such an impact can specifically extend to the land and hydrologic systems, as well as certain climate or weather features such as the monsoons and extreme weather events. As both economic development and urban expansion will continue to occur throughout this region, so will likely the extensive use of fossil and biofuels, and various burning activities for agricultural or plantation purposes particularly those ignite the peatland in Southeast Asia. Therein the problems of severe particulate pollution and the frequent occurrence of haze will likely continue to grow. This interdisciplinary session solicits papers assessing sources, transformations, and transport of aerosols from Asian pollution, and their impacts on air quality, extreme weather events, and regional and global climate features including the monsoons and meridional circulations. In addition, the research addressing particulate pollution and haze related human health issues, economic impacts, or policy as well as risk assessment are also welcome. We hope that this session will serve as a forum for a diverse range of discussions of aerosol-haze related researches. |