A November 14th New York Times article dives deep into the 5th National Climate Assessment, the government’s premier compilation of scientific knowledge on what climate change means for America and how we respond. The report, to which AirUCI faculty Steve Davis was a contributing author, details how American life is under growing threat from climate change and it is effectively too late to prevent many of the harms from worsening over the next decade. From the food we eat to the roads we drive to our health and safety to our cultural heritage to natural environments to a flourishing economy, global warming caused by human activities is threatening major changes to nearly every cherished aspect of our society. “People sometimes focus so much on the stuff that we don’t know how to do that it paralyzes them in thinking about the options that we have today,” said Steve. Red the article
News
Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.
2023
On November 7th, a fire broke out at one of Orange County's most historic structures, one of the "lighter than air" base hangars in Tustin. Built in WWII, the hangars housed blimps and other aircraft which patrolled the coast for Japanese submarines and ships. The fire triggered air quality alerts in the area due to toxic fumes and some neighborhoods were evacuated.
AirUCI faculty Michael Kleinma was quoted in an Orange County Register article on the blaze. Given when the largely wooden structure was built, Mike said there’s a very good chance arsenic was used to treat the wood and that lead was used in its paint. “As long as this thing smolders, it will continue to put out toxic material,” he said. “The plumes from something like this can travel for miles and those particles can get into nearby homes even when windows are closed.” Children and people with health conditions are most at risk from exposure, said Mike, but he advises anyone who can see or smell obvious exposure to stay with relatives or friends out of the area for a while if they can.
In an article in The Hill, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is interviewed about his recent study on production of synthetic dietary fats and the potential environmental benefits. The widespread manufacture of farm-free food could yield numerous environmental and societal benefits — enabling people to "eat our way" out of a burgeoning climate crisis, according to Steve. “Such ‘food without the farm’ could avoid enormous quantities of climate-warming emissions while also safeguarding biodiverse lands that might otherwise be cleared for farms,” Read the article Second article
A November 2nd Wall Street Journal article on the effects of concrete on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere quotes AirUCI faculty Steve Davis. Typically concrete consists of a polluting blend of sand, gravel, water and cement, but adding carbon dioxide helps clean up the process. The hybrid material—known as “green” concrete—reduces the carbon footprint of one of the dirtiest industrial sectors in the world and is emerging as an alternative to carbon storage options such as underground wells and pipelines. While it can’t store the billions of tons of carbon needed to meet the world’s climate goals, green concrete offers an immediate, partial solution to the problem of concrete emissions until other options emerge. “I think that’s great,” Steve said about small carbon injections in concrete. “But it’s not going to completely solve the problem of all of those emissions to begin with.” Read the article
AirUCI research Shahir Masri is quoted in a November 1st Wired article on the effects of extreme heat and links to heart attacks. Less affluent neighborhoods tend to have more substandard housing with less air conditioning and insulation, less tree cover, and more paved surfaces that absorb and radiate heat. "Census tracts in California that are more likely to experience days of high heat and high pollution exposure also tend to score low on socioeconomic status," says Shahir. “Largely what we find is those populations have much less access to health care and suffer from comorbidities, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, that make these populations much more vulnerable” to heart-related heath problems. Read the article
AirUCI faculty Jun Wu is co-author on a study published in JAMA linking air pollution and postpartum depression. Long-term maternal exposure to common air pollutants, both before and after childbirth, has been linked to increased risk of postpartum depression for mothers – with symptoms ranging from anxiety and irritability to suicide – and may lead to cognitive, emotional, psychological and behavioral impairments in their infants, the study found. “Postpartum depression is a major public health problem,” said Jun, "and identifying modifiable environmental risk factors is important, as it can support future intervention studies." Read the article
AirUCI Co-Director Sergey Nizkorodov has been interviewed in a Chemistry World article on nanoparticles shed into the atmosphere by man-made objects like space debris. The first-of-its-kind study shows that as satellites and other metallic objects fall to earth, significant amounts of metals are released as they burn up during re-entry and condense into nanoparticles, some of which could potentially affect the ways in which aerosols form clouds. "Aluminum is a pretty benign metal but there is also copper they mention and other transition metals that could potentially have interesting chemistry related to the ozone layer or formation of clouds … I think it should be investigated, for sure," said Sergey. Read the article
AirUCI faculty Mike Kleinman is quoted extensively in an October 20th Healthline article about health risks associated with formaldehyde-based hair straightening products. Proper ventilation of salons is important. "In the short-term, formaldehyde exposure can lead to irritation of skin and airway membranes, which can trigger asthmatic reactions and other breathing problems," said Mike. Long-term use of these products is linked to higher risk of multiple forms of cancer. The FDA is considering a ban on these products, effective as soon as April 2024. Read the article.
AirUCI sponsors a student chapter of the American Association of Aerosol Research on campus, a group that was started after our student retreat in 2018 and continues holding regular meetings. The group, while initiated by AirUCI students, is open to all and has regular attendees from several departments. For the 2023-2024 year their newly-elected officers are: President Jeremy Wakeen, Secretary Sukriti Kapur, Treasurer Yinting Chiu, Professional Development Chair Kasey Edwards, Social Events Chair Anna Kapp, and Undergraduate Liaison Lena Gerritz. Congratulations, all!
AirUCi faculty Jane Baldwin is quoted in an October 9th Reuters article on the threat to human health from high temperatures combined with high humidity, especially as the planet warms. A new study shows that the currently accepted point at which heat and humidity combine to push the human body beyond its limits without shade or help from technologies such as air conditioning.is too high. Previous studies indicated that a "wet-bulb" temperature of 95 degrees F persisting for six or more hours could be the conservative limit for the human body, but the new study puts that benchmark at 84-86 degrees F. "This will be a critical benchmark for future studies," said Jane, who was not involved in the project. Read the article
