Search

Climatic and geographic factors characterizing local conditions, as well as the ecological state of the external environment, have a direct effect on human health, morbidity, and life expectancy. The paper considers the basic concepts of medical ecology, a pathogenetic role of environmental atmospheric pollution in the development of environmentally induced and environmentally dependent diseases associated with exposure to meteorological factors. In addition to the major hygienic risk factors affecting the public health (a level of air, water, and soil pollution), the levels of acoustic and electromagnetic background, the type of human nutrition, architectural and planning conditions of human life are of significant importance. Global climate warming causes numerous environmental changes, primarily an increase in surface air temperature, which in turn entails global changes in weather conditions that lead to various weather anomalies. Human health is directly dependent on environmental conditions and a degree of adaptation to them. The paper highlights the issues of diagnosing environmentally induced diseases and measures to counteract their spread. Based on the system diagnosis using physiological indicators of human health and the integration of the adaptation and nosological approaches, a hardware-software complex has been developed and introduced into medical practice. Corrective technologies of regenerative medicine that are used for ecologically dependent pathologies are described. Their application in the process of the complex sanatorium and resort treatment is most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors explore the trends in the human health risks caused by air pollution and changing levels of weather and climate comfort on the territory of Russia in 2020–2050 under two climate change scenarios. Generally, the dynamics of risks is expected to be moderate. It will presumably be characterized by inter-scenario variability and dispersion by the country's climate zones. In certain areas, primarily in Siberia, very noticeable trends have been revealed. The paper shows a need for additional attention when planning the measures of adaptation to climate change in southern and central regions of European Russia, most of Western Siberia, the Magadan oblast and Kamchatka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the quantification of fine particulate matter (PM10) dispersion in atmospheric air of an industrial city using the AERMOD model by an example of Zhlobin (the Gomel oblast, Belarus). Model input data and procedures for the emission inventory and obtaining spatially distributed estimates are described. Emissions and dispersion of PM10 from the main categories of sources are considered, including industrial facilities, road and off-road mobile sources, domestic sector, and agriculture. It is shown that the main contribution to high PM10 concentrations in atmospheric air is made by industrial enterprises, the domestic sector, and road transport. The spatial pattern of urban air pollution is described. The simulation results are compared with the results of PM10 measurements at the monitoring site, their satisfactory consistency is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The model estimation is presented for the impact of interaction between anthropogenic and biogenic emissions of trace gases and aerosols on the mass concentration of the fine fraction of particulate matter (PM2.5) in the central region of the European part of Russia. The numerical study is performed with the CHIMERE chemistry transport model taking into account the formation of secondary organic aerosol from the oxidation of semivolatile organic compounds. The simulation results are in agreement with data of PM2.5 measurements at the Mosekomonitoring stations in Moscow. It is shown that the anthropogenic-biogenic interaction results in the growth of PM2.5 concentration. Its relative value varies within the analyzed region from several percent to several tens of percent and leads to the considerable (by 1.5 times) increase in the number of episodes in which average daily PM2.5 concentration exceeds the maximum permissible concentration accepted in Russia. It is found that the revealed increase in the number of such episodes is mainly caused by the accelerated formation of biogenic secondary organic aerosol in the presence of anthropogenic air pollution which accounts (on average over the region and season) for ∼60% of its surface mass concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to perform the spatial-temporal analysis of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particulate matters (PM) pollution in Zonguldak Province and its adjacent regions due to active mining and industrial activities. Samples for the year 2020 were collected at nine air quality monitoring stations located in the study area. Monthly, seasonal, and yearly PM variations were examined using statistical and geostatistical methods of data analysis. The results showed that (1) both PM concentrations, PM2.5 and PM10, varied monthly and seasonally. Monthly box plots revealed the U-shaped patterns with the peaks in winter months and valleys in summer months; (2) geospatial analysis of seasonal variations enabled to set the boundaries between high and low pollution values in the region and allowed to identify the most polluted sites; mean PM2.5 concentrations were found as 38, 22, 15, and 27 mg/m3 for winter, spring, summer, and autumn, respectively, while corresponding PM10 were 69, 46, 35, and 57 mg/m3; (3) histogram plots for yearly PM2.5 and PM10 values showed that concentrations were the most frequent between 15–20 mg/m3 and 40–50 mg/m3; (4) comparative review between annual mean concentrations of PM and limit values showed that almost all stations exceed the thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical simulation of evolution of a convective cloud and precipitation during a thunderstorm event that took place on August 11, 2017 in Beijing (China) against a background of high aerosol air pollution was performed using a numerical nonstationary three-dimensional model. Different microphysical parameters of drops and ice particles which depend on aerosol pollution of the atmosphere, were varied: an autoconversion threshold for cloud droplets and raindrops and parameters of raindrop and hailstone size distribution. It was found for this case that liquid drops do not play a significant role in the convective cloud evolution. The effect of aerosol pollution both on the raindrop size spectrum and on the transition of cloud droplets to raindrops does not influence significantly dynamic, microphysical and electrical properties of the cloud. At the same time, the change in the ice particle spectrum towards the size decrease that happens under the influence of increased aerosol pollution, has a significant impact on the evolution of the cloud and precipitation. The amount of precipitation decreases both within the cloud and on the underlying surface. However, the lightning activity of the cloud changes little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental results of evaluating levels of air pollution with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed in the Stockholm Convention at Amderma and Tiksi stations in 2015–2017 are presented. The list of POPs includes polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. The ranges of the POP concentration are revealed and the statistical characteristics (mean, median) over the observation period are calculated. Based on the analysis of diagnostic ratios and temperature dependences, the features of global transport sources are considered. A wide range of variations in the concentration of POPs is shown that depends on environmental factors and the source type (local sources or global transport). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide are the carbon cycle gases, the data on their emissions are needed when monitoring air pollution and developing methods for reducing anthropogenic emissions to the atmosphere and for climate forecasting. The estimates of nocturnal area fluxes for CO2, CH4, and CO presented for a suburb of Saint Petersburg (Peterhof) are obtained using the box model and continuous observations of concentration of these gases. The mean values of CH4, CO2, and CO fluxes estimated for Peterhof for 2014-2015 are 44 ± 27, 6100 ± 4000, and 90 ± 100 t/(km2 year), respectively. The intensity of the CO area flux has pronounced seasonal variations characterized by the maximum of ~(160 ± 120) t/(km2 year) in November—February and by the minimum of ~(30 ± 20) t/(km2 year) in June-July. The analysis of the ratio of CO/CO2 fluxes identified the main types of anthropogenic sources typical of Peterhof: motor transport, natural gas combustion, and the use of wood stoves for the heating of private low-rise buildings (in the cold season). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COSMO-ART model is used at the Hydrometcenter of Russia for the routine forecast of air pollutant concentrations. The COSMO-Ru7-ART system is able to simulate adequately the values of concentration of impurities in the atmosphere. The system includes the module for estimating the emission of pollutants to the atmosphere from forest fires that was successfully tested on the case of forest fires occurred in the summer of 2010 for the European part of Russia. The accurate forecast of pollutant concentration has also a positive effect on the air temperature forecast due to taking into account the aerosol feedback on radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The air quality analyses for nitrogen dioxide (NO) were conducted in Tehran, capital of Iran. Daily and annual variations in its average concentrations were calculated using measurements from four sampling stations. Multiple linear and nonlinear regression equations for relationships between concentration of pollutant and meteorological parameters were obtained from average data. The RMSE test showed that the stepwise model is the best option among the considered prediction models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considered are the following possible approaches to get over the crisis: the rapid reduction of anthropogenic emissions of CO, the removal of CO excess from the atmosphere, and the targeted change in the balance of coming solar radiation. Presented are the basic engineering methods of CO removal which are able to ensure the negative emission of CO at the level of a gigaton per year. The maximum possible potential is assessed, the scenario till 2300 is formulated, and the average lifetime of CO in the sequestration reservoir is estimated for each method. Model computations demonstrated that even the whole set of negative emission methods cannot ensure the stabilization of global temperature at the permissible level under the most pessimistic scenarios of CO concentration increase in the atmosphere. The conclusion is made that since the middle of the 21st century the humanity will have to use all three approaches to bar the hazardous exceeding of the average global temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considered is the application of MTP-5 meteorological temperature profiler used for the remote sensing of vertical profiles of the air temperature in the planetary boundary layer and the lower one-kilometer layer of the atmosphere. The measurements were carried out in Bergen (Norway) in 2011–2012. The obtained dataset of temperature profiles has temporal resolution of five minutes and vertical resolution of 50 m. The MTP-5 data are complemented with the measurements of the air temperature and the wind taken at two automatic weather stations and with the measurements of the rain intensity made with the rain radar. Studied is the impact of meteorological conditions and precipitation on the MTP-5 readings. It is revealed that formation of a thin water film (of ice or, to a smaller degree, of sleet) on the surface of the sensor cover of MTP-5 has a significant impact on the data of the temperature monitoring. The removal of intensive precipitation (the precipitation rate is >0.2 mm/hour) improved the reliability and quality of the temperature profile monitoring. In particular, it is demonstrated that significant air pollution and stably stratified atmospheric conditions which lead to low temperatures are reliably monitored with this instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presented are the stages of the formation and development of the system of monitoring and studying the atmospheric pollution in the cities for the 50-year period (since 1963). In this time period, important information on the quality of the air has been collected by monitoring network and has been published in yearly Roshydromet editions. Using the observational data, the trend is assessed of variations of the air pollution level in the largest cities of Russia for the long-term period. Demonstrated is the need in taking account of climatic conditions of the spread of atmospheric pollutants coming to the atmosphere with anthropogenic emissions for the decision-making on the air protection. Stated are the results of recent studies of the atmospheric chemical activity and effects of the air temperature and total solar radiation on the formation of secondary pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of wintertime and summertime precipitation on the mean (semiannual, seasonal, and monthly) concentration of aerosol particles of different sizes in the atmospheric surface layer are analyzed on the basis of the data of 15-year measurements of atmospheric aerosol in the town of Dolgoprudny (20 km from the center of Moscow). It is demonstrated that a statistically significant negative correlation between the aerosol particle concentration and the precipitation is observed for monthly mean values only and is absent for semiannual and seasonal means. The analysis of individual cases of precipitation corroborated the conclusion on their low impact on the aerosol concentration in the surface layer. In winter, the aerosol concentration decrease is observed within a narrow particle size interval of 0.03-0.1 μm and amounts to not more than 30% during several hours. A scavenging effect of summertime precipitation manifests itself in a wider size interval of 0.03-1.0 μm but does not exceed 10-20% and is of short-term nature. The limited effects of precipitation on the surface aerosol are explained by the proximity to the underlying surface being a permanent aerosol source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]