Article
Environmental Sciences
Yehya Elsayed, Sofian Kanan, Ahmad Farhat
Summary: This study in the GCC region near two major airports reports seasonal variations in meteorological parameters, atmospheric dust, and dust-borne heavy metals concentrations. The concentrations of heavy metals, PM2.5, and PM10 fluctuated with meteorological conditions, with potential harm to human health. The chemical correlation between atmospheric dust and regional desert sand implies the localized origin of smaller dust particles.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Syuichi Itahashi, Kentaro Hayashi, Shigenobu Takeda, Yu Umezawa, Kazuhide Matsuda, Tatsuya Sakurai, Itsushi Uno
Summary: The East Asian oceans are heavily impacted by atmospheric nitrogen deposition, with emissions dominated by ammonia and nitrogen oxides. Deposition of reduced nitrogen dominates over most land and open ocean, while oxidized nitrogen dominates over marginal seas and desert areas. Dry deposition of nitric acid and wet deposition of fine-mode nitrate and ammonium are important processes determining nitrogen deposition over the region.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Weijie Liu, Xinli Xing, Miao Li, Yue Yu, Tianpeng Hu, Yao Mao, Lili Liang, Yuan Zhang, Jiaquan Zhang, Shihua Qi
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the pollution source of heavy metals (HMs) in soil near mining and evaluate the influence mechanism of dust fall on HMs pollution. The results showed that dust fall is the primary pollution source to HMs accumulation in soil. Mineralogical analysis revealed that quartz, kaolinite, calcite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite are the major mineral phases in dust fall.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jingchuan Chen, Zhijun Wu, Jie Chen, Naama Reicher, Xin Fang, Yinon Rudich, Min Hu
Summary: Asian dust is an important source of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles (INPs), but the freezing activity and sensitivity to particle size are poorly understood. This study reports the first size-resolved INP measurement of airborne mineral dust during East Asian dust events. The nucleation efficiency of dust particles increases with particle size, while the INP concentration first increases rapidly and then levels off due to a decrease in the number concentration of larger particles. New parameterizations for INP activity based on the size-resolved nucleation properties of Asian mineral dust particles were developed for a wider temperature range and can be easily applied in models.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Li Wan, Haofeng Lv, Waqas Qasim, Longlong Xia, Zhisheng Yao, Jing Hu, Yiming Zhao, Xiaodong Ding, Xunhua Zheng, Guoyuan Li, Shan Lin, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Summary: Greenhouse vegetable production in China is a growing concern due to food quality and safety worries. This study found that greenhouse soils have higher concentrations of micronutrients and macronutrients compared to adjacent arable land. The concentrations of heavy metals in greenhouse soils were lower, except for copper and zinc in the topsoil. The study also revealed the direct relationship between soil nutrient concentrations in greenhouses and the application of fertilizers and agrochemicals.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Chenglai Wu, Zhaohui Lin, Xiaohong Liu, Duoying Ji, He Zhang, Chao Li, Guangxing Lin
Summary: The study describes the dust emission parameterization in the Chinese Academy of Sciences Earth System Model version 2 (CAS-ESM2) with an emphasis on the implementation process and simulations of global dust cycle and East Asia dust event statistics. The model performs well in simulating global dust distribution and East Asian dust events, yet underestimates the frequency of strong dust events due to weaker surface winds simulated by the model. Further improvements are needed to address biases in the model simulation.
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ansley Grider, Alexandra Ponette-Gonzalez, Ruth Heindel
Summary: The decrease in precipitation acidity in the United States over the past forty years has raised new questions about the impact of base cations and nitrogen species on precipitation pH regulation. Research conducted in Ohio, a state with high nitrogen deposition and diverse land use, analyzed long-term and short-term data to examine the drivers of wet deposition pH. The study found that as wet deposition pH and anion concentrations decreased, base cations, particularly NH4+ and Ca2+, played a larger role in controlling precipitation pH. These findings highlight the importance of land use in acid neutralization processes and have implications for ecosystem recovery from acid rain.
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peng Liu, Qiumei Wu, Wenyou Hu, Kang Tian, Biao Huang, Yongcun Zhao
Summary: Atmospheric deposition is a crucial pathway for heavy metals (HMs) to accumulate in agricultural soils. This study investigated the effects of atmospheric deposition on soil HMs accumulation at a regional scale. Industrial activities significantly increased the flux of deposited particles from atmospheric deposition, with higher fluxes in industrial areas compared to agricultural areas and reference sites. Although the deposition fluxes of HMs were decreasing over time, Cd and Pb still remained at high levels in the study area. Precipitation was found to be the key factor affecting seasonal variations of atmospheric HMs deposition. Lead isotope analysis revealed that atmospheric Pb originated from coal combustion and atmospheric deposition was the main source of Pb contamination in agricultural soils near industrial areas. This study provides valuable insights into the impacts of atmospheric deposition on HMs accumulation in agricultural soils and offers a theoretical basis for preventing soil HMs contamination in industrial developed regions and similar areas.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
C. K. Majee, S. Y. Ali, P. K. Padhy
Summary: This study investigates the effects of atmospheric dust particles on the growth, biochemical constituents, and heavy metal concentration of four common medicinal plants. The results demonstrate a negative correlation between plant allometry measurements and dustfall and SPM, as well as an inverse relationship between total chlorophyll and RWC with dust load. Additionally, a positive correlation is observed between SPM and heavy metals in leaves.
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Aocong Zhang, Dawei Lv, Zhihui Zhang, Munira Raji, Yuan Gao, Laiming Zhang, Luojing Wang, Wenxu Du, Zekuan Li
Summary: The study of dust deposition records in geological history is important for understanding paleoclimate evolution during deep periods. However, the lack of quantitative data hinders the comprehensive study of paleoclimate evolution. In this study, the authors used the concentration of inorganic matter in coal to estimate the dust concentration and deposition rate during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They found higher ash concentration and dust deposition rates near arid provenance areas, and compared the variation of dust deposition rates under icehouse and greenhouse climates. The study provides a basis for studying the atmospheric environment during the ice age.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Amos P. K. Tai, Perry H. L. Ma, Yuk-Chun Chan, Ming-Keung Chow, David A. Ridley, Jasper F. Kok
Summary: The study showed that the interannual variability and trends of East Asian dust emission are largely shaped by climatic factors, with the land cover playing secondary but locally important roles, especially in the semiarid and non-desert regions undergoing rapid land cover change and desertification.
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Water Resources
Calistus C. Okudo, Nwachukwu R. Ekere, Chukwuma O. B. Okoye
Summary: The quality of non-roof harvested rainwater in Enugu industrial layouts was studied based on physicochemical parameters and concentration of heavy metals. The results indicated that some of the metal concentrations exceeded the standards set by the World Health Organization and Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality. These toxic and persistent metals have the potential to bioaccumulate. Therefore, treatment and awareness on the harvest and use of rainwater are crucial.
APPLIED WATER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
T. Benaltabet, G. Lapid, A. Torfstein
Summary: Trace metals delivered by atmospheric dust play a key role in oceanic biogeochemical cycles. However, the impact of short-term environmental perturbations such as dust storms and sediment resuspension events on the oceanic water column is poorly constrained. This study presents observations from the Gulf of Aqaba over a 2-year period, showing that increasing aerosol loads lead to a decrease in upper mixed layer trace metal inventories. Dust storms and sediment resuspension events promote trace metal scavenging and clearing.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kaan Isinkaralar, Ismail Koc, Ramazan Erdem, Hakan Sevik
Summary: The principal problem in dense cities is air pollution and the damage to the environment caused by it. Roadside landscape plants are exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants, such as chromium, cadmium, and zinc. This study aimed to determine the concentration changes of these pollutants in different organs and washing status using 14 common landscape species. The results showed that Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murr.) Parl. had better biomonitoring features for heavy metal accumulation among all species.
WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jae-Hyeong Lee, Sang-Hyun Lee
Summary: This study investigates the capability of the WRF-Chem model in simulating a severe wintertime Asian dust event and finds significant differences in the simulated dust emission amounts among different emission schemes. The UC01 and UC04 schemes perform reasonably well in simulating the dust plumes, while the performance depends on near-surface wind speed and soil moisture amount.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
