{"id":124798,"date":"2009-09-14T08:14:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T08:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weblogs.madrimasd.org\/\/universo\/archive\/2009\/09\/14\/124798.aspx"},"modified":"2010-01-22T03:53:43","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T02:53:43","slug":"calidad-del-aire-sequia-y-erosion-del-suelo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/2009\/09\/14\/124798","title":{"rendered":"Calidad del Aire, Sequ\u00eda y Erosi\u00f3n del Suelo"},"content":{"rendered":"<link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJuanjo%5CCONFIG%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml\">\n<style> <!--  \/* Font Definitions *\/  @font-face \t{font-family:\"Comic Sans MS\"; \tpanose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; \tmso-font-charset:0; \tmso-generic-font-family:script; \tmso-font-pitch:variable; \tmso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face \t{font-family:\"Bookman Old Style\"; \tpanose-1:2 5 6 4 5 5 5 2 2 4; \tmso-font-charset:0; \tmso-generic-font-family:roman; \tmso-font-pitch:variable; \tmso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}  \/* Style Definitions *\/  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal \t{mso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmargin:0pt; \tmargin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:12.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\"; \tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink \t{color:#000099; \tmso-text-animation:none; \ttext-decoration:none; \ttext-underline:none; \ttext-decoration:none; \ttext-line-through:none;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed \t{color:purple; \ttext-decoration:underline; \ttext-underline:single;} @page Section1 \t{size:612.0pt 792.0pt; \tmargin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; \tmso-header-margin:36.0pt; \tmso-footer-margin:36.0pt; \tmso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 \t{page:Section1;} --> <\/style>\n<p><!--  \/* Style Definitions *\/  table.MsoNormalTable \t{mso-style-name:\"Tabla normal\"; \tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; \tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0; \tmso-style-noshow:yes; \tmso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; \tmso-para-margin:0pt; \tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:10.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";} -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;;\">Quien contamina paga. Ojal\u00e1 fuera cierto pero es mera propaganda pol\u00edtica. Sin embargo va a resultar que la atm\u00f3sfera se toma la justicia por su cuenta. Recientes estudios muestran que la contaminaci\u00f3n del aire generada por las actividades industriales incrementa el n\u00famero de part\u00edculas en suspensi\u00f3n atmosf\u00e9rica, pero a costa de disminuir su tama\u00f1o. Hablamos de aerosoles. Estos \u00faltimos act\u00faan como nucleadores del vapor de agua que, al convertirse en gotas, terminan por caer al suelo en forma de precipitaciones. No obstante si el tama\u00f1o de los aerosoles es demasiado peque\u00f1o, tambi\u00e9n lo es su potencial para condensar el vapor de agua. Dicho de otro modo, las gotas son demasiado peque\u00f1as como para formar las nubes que desprenden precipitaciones. Y al acaecer tal proceso, no se reduce la cantidad de agua precipitada, sino que cuando llueve, lo hace de un modo m\u00e1s torrencial en detrimento de la de naturaleza m\u00e1s suave. En otras palabras, se induce un aumento de la torrencialidad. Como corolario, los suelos en lugar de empaparse lentamente hasta saturarse, sufren el impacto de tormentas intensas que incrementan la escorrent\u00eda superficial, el sellado del suelo y la erosi\u00f3n. Resultado: para una misma cantidad de precipitaci\u00f3n anual se incrementa el d\u00e9ficit h\u00eddrico (sequ\u00eda), disminuyendo la producci\u00f3n de cosechas y fomentando la erosi\u00f3n de los recursos ed\u00e1ficos. Tal narraci\u00f3n pudiera parecer a algunos \u201cel cuento de caperucita\u201d. Pues no es el caso. Investigaciones recientes llevadas a cabo en China \u201cparecen\u201d demostrar que la sequ\u00eda que padecen extensas zonas del NE de aqu\u00e9l&nbsp; pa\u00eds es debida a la contaminaci\u00f3n del aire que aqueja a sus ciudades, y no a cambios en la circulaci\u00f3n atmosf\u00e9rica, ni al vapor de agua que contienen.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blogs\/universo\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/42\/files\/804\/o_China%20contaminaci%C3%B3n.jpg\" width=\"440\" height=\"309\"><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Bookman Old Style&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.treehugger.com\/2008\/08\/03-week\">Contaminaci\u00f3n del aire en China. Fuente: Treehugger<\/a><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <!--more--><link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJuanjo%5CCONFIG%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml\"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"date\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"PlaceName\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"PlaceType\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"country-region\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"City\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"place\"><\/o:smarttagtype><!--[if !mso]><object  classid=\"clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D\" id=ieooui><\/object> \n\n<style> st1\\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } --><\/p>\n<style> <!--  \/* Font Definitions *\/  @font-face \t{font-family:\"Comic Sans MS\"; \tpanose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; \tmso-font-charset:0; \tmso-generic-font-family:script; \tmso-font-pitch:variable; \tmso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}  \/* Style Definitions *\/  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal \t{mso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmargin:0pt; \tmargin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:12.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\"; \tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink \t{color:#000099; \tmso-text-animation:none; \ttext-decoration:none; \ttext-underline:none; \ttext-decoration:none; \ttext-line-through:none;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed \t{color:purple; \ttext-decoration:underline; \ttext-underline:single;} @page Section1 \t{size:612.0pt 792.0pt; \tmargin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; \tmso-header-margin:36.0pt; \tmso-footer-margin:36.0pt; \tmso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 \t{page:Section1;} --> <\/style>\n<p><!--  \/* Style Definitions *\/  table.MsoNormalTable \t{mso-style-name:\"Tabla normal\"; \tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; \tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0; \tmso-style-noshow:yes; \tmso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; \tmso-para-margin:0pt; \tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:10.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";} -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">Es palmario que las investigaciones actuales sobre el cambio clim\u00e1tico no van a lograr frenar el aumento en el efecto de invernadero<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\">. De eso se encargan con fervor inusitado la econom\u00eda bobalizante y sus defensores. Sin embargo, v<b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">amos a aprender algo m\u00e1s a cerca de c\u00f3mo se ha generado todo este proceso catastr\u00f3fico, as\u00ed como mejorar ciertos procesos biogeosf\u00e9ricos subyacentes<\/span><\/b>. En este contexto, diversos estudios constatan como <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">las part\u00edculas de materia en suspensi\u00f3n a\u00e9rea desempe\u00f1an papeles muy relevantes sobre el clima y algunos eventos atmosf\u00e9ricos que hace a\u00f1os ni vislumbr\u00e1bamos<\/span><\/b>. Hemos intentado varias veces hablar de este tema. Sin embargo, <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">resulta harto complejo, por cuanto no depende del n\u00famero de part\u00edculas o aerosoles que contiene el aire si no que tambi\u00e9n influyen su composici\u00f3n,tama\u00f1o, etc<\/span><\/b>.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\">Ya sabemos que la <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">mala calidad del aire<\/span><\/b> genera <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">lluvia \u00e1cida,<\/span><\/b> a dem\u00e1s de afectar gravemente la <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">salud de la poblaci\u00f3n<\/span><\/b> que la padece. Ahora bien, lo que acabamos de comenzar a narrar nos parece bastante m\u00e1s <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">ins\u00f3lito y novedoso, por cuanto quedan vinculadas contaminaci\u00f3n del aire, lluvias \u00fatiles para la producci\u00f3n agropecuaria, tormentas que puedan dar lugar a erosi\u00f3n e inundaciones, as\u00ed como el agravamiento de los problemas de desertizaci\u00f3n.<\/span><\/b> \u00a1Vaya l\u00edo!. Digamos que en China su falta de cuidado por la contaminaci\u00f3n atmosf\u00e9rica induce<span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"> <b style=\"\">pobreza y falta de agua en el agro,<\/b><\/span> poniendo en <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">riesgo <\/span><\/b>su <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">seguridad alimentaria<\/span><\/b>. Y todo ello <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">sin que quede afectada la cantidad total de agua precipitada.<\/span><\/b> \u00d3sea que por los designios biogeosf\u00e9ricos, el pa\u00eds que contamina paga, aunque <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">el peso directo de tal desastre recae<\/span><\/b>, como casi siempre,<b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"> sobre<\/span><\/b> las espaldas de los m\u00e1s desheredados, en este caso<b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"> los campesinos<\/span><\/b>. A dem\u00e1s de obtener <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">menores cosechas, el gobierno de este pa\u00eds les recortan los suministros de agua, con vistas a que la China capitalista siga contaminando<\/span><\/b>. Esto es a lo que yo llamo justicia bobalzante. Abajo os dejamos <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">dos noticias con abundantes detalles.<\/span><\/b> La primera, m\u00e1s corta, fue publicada por <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">Terradaily<\/span><\/b>, mientras que la m\u00e1s extensa por<b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"> Sciencedaily<\/span><\/b>. Resumiendo, <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">que poquito sabemos de las conexiones biogeosf\u00e9ricas<\/span><\/b>.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);\">Juanjo Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez <span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Comic Sans MS&quot;;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.terradaily.com\/reports\/Air_pollution_reducing_good_rains_in_China_study_999.html\"><span style=\"\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Air pollution reducing good rains in China: study<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">by Staff Writers; <\/span><st1:city><st1:place><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Stockholm<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:city><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> (AFP) <\/span><st1:date year=\"2009\" day=\"31\" month=\"8\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Aug 31, 2009<\/span><\/st1:date><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><br \/> <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: green;\">Air pollution has over the past 50 years led to a reduction of the light rainfall in China essential for the country&#8217;s agriculture and water resources<\/span><\/b>, a Chinese researcher said Monday. <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">A recent <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: green;\">study conducted in Sweden, the United States and China showed that the number of days with light rainfall (less than 0.1 millimetre per day) dropped by 23 percent in China from 1956 to 2005. That was because of air pollution particles that reduced the formation of rain cloud<\/span><\/b>s, researcher Deliang Chen of <\/span><st1:place><st1:placename><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Gothenburg<\/span><\/st1:placename><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> <\/span><st1:placetype><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">University<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> told AFP. <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">\u00abThe <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">particles of air pollution, named aerosols, make the drops of water considerably smaller and that makes them more difficult to aggregate into rain clouds that can release rain<\/span><\/b>,\u00bb he said. While the <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">amount of rain has remained stable over the years, the reduction of light rainfalls, or \u00abgood rainfalls\u00bb, poses a threat to <\/span><\/b><\/span><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\">China<\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> as the country drags its feets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said. \u00ab<b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: green;\">Light rains in a country like <\/span><\/b><\/span><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: green;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">China<\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: green;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> are counted upon because they&#8217;re easy for the soil to absorb<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: green;\">But heavy rains make the soil run off and the water is not absorbed and can cause problems such as erosion or floodings<\/span><\/b>,\u00bb he said.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\">\u00abNow we have evidence that air pollution is not only bad for the climate but also for the agriculture and the economy<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">,\u00bb he added. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">The study, entitled \u00ab<\/span><\/b>Heavy pollution suppresses light rain in <\/span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">China<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">,\u00bb was published recently in the <\/span><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">US<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> Journal of Geophysical Rese<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\">arch<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">. <\/span><st1:place><b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Northern  China<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> is the region most exposed to drought. It is currently experiencing its worst drought in 60 years, leaving nearly five million people short of water<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">, state media have reported. <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.terradaily.com\/Froth_And_Bubble.html\"><span style=\"\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2009\/08\/090814165303.htm\"><span style=\"\" lang=\"EN-GB\">The Sky Is Not Falling: Pollution In Eastern China Cuts Light, Useful Rainfall<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: teal;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">ScienceDaily (Aug. 17, 2009)<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> \u2014 New research shows that <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: green;\">air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country<\/span><\/b>. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">The results suggest that <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">bad air quality might be affecting the country&#8217;s ability to raise crops as well as contributing to health and environmental problems<\/span><\/b>.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">The study links for the first time <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">high levels of pollutants in the air with conditions that prevent the light kind of rainfall critical for agriculture<\/span><\/b>. Led by atmospheric scientist Yun Qian at the Department of Energy&#8217;s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the study appears August 15 in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. \u00abPeople have long wondered if there was a connection, but this is the first time we&#8217;ve <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">observed it from long-term data,\u00bb said Qian. <\/span><\/b><\/span><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">\u00abBesides the health effects, acid rain and other problems that pollution creates, this work suggests that reducing air pollution might help ease the drought in north China<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">.\u00bb<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: teal;\">Drier Times<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\">China<\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\" lang=\"EN-GB\">&#8216;s dramatic economic growth and pollution problems provide researchers an opportunity to study the connection between air quality and climate<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">Rain in <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">eastern China \u2014 where most of the country&#8217;s people and pollution exist<\/span><\/b> \u2014 is not like it used to be. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">Over the last 50 years, the southern part of eastern China has seen increased amounts of total rainfall per year. The northern half has seen less rain and more droughts<\/span><\/b>. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">But light rainfall that sustains crops has decreased everywhere<\/span><\/b>. A group of climate researchers from the U.S., China and Sweden wanted to know why light rain patterns haven&#8217;t followed the same precipitation patterns as total rainfall.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: green;\">Previous work has shown that pollution can interfere with light rain above oceans, so the team suspected pollution might have something to do with the changes over land<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">. Light rain ranges from drizzles to 10 millimeters of accumulation per day and sustains agriculture. (Compared to heavy rain that causes floods, loss of light rain has serious consequences for crops.). <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">While the light rains have diminished, pollution has increased dramatically in China<\/span><\/b> in the last half of the 20th century. For example, while China&#8217;s population rose two and a half times in size, <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">the emissions of sulfur from fossil fuel burning outpaced that considerably \u2014 rising nine times<\/span><\/b>.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: teal;\">Sky Gremlins<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">Air pollution contains tiny, unseen particles of gas, water and bits of matter called aerosols. Aerosols \u2014 both natural and human-caused (anthropogenic)<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"> \u2014 do contribute to rainfall patterns, but the researchers needed to determine if pollution was to blame for China&#8217;s loss of rain and how. To find out, the team <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">charted trends in rainfall from 1956 to 2005 in eastern China, which has 162 weather stations <\/span><\/b>with complete data collected over the entire 50 years.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">From this data, the team determined that both the north and south regions of eastern China had fewer days of light rain <\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">\u2014 those getting 10 millimeters per day or less \u2014 at the end of the 50 year timespan. The south lost more days \u2014 8.1 days per decade \u2014 than the north did, at 6.9 days per decade. However, the drought-rattled north lost a greater percentage of its rainy days, about 25 percent compared to the south&#8217;s 21 percent. \u00abNo matter how we define light rain, we can see a very significant decrease of light rain over almost every station,\u00bb said Qian.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: teal;\">Up Up &amp; In the Way<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">To probe what caused the loss of rainfall, the team looked at how much water the atmosphere contained and where the water vapor traveled. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">Most parts of eastern China saw no significant change in the amount of water held by the atmosphere, even though light rains decreased<\/span><\/b>. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">In addition, where the atmosphere transported water vapor <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">didn&#8217;t coincide with light rain frequency<\/span><\/b>. These results suggested that changes in<b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\"> large-scale movement of water could not account for the loss of the precipitation<\/span><\/b>. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">Some of <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">pollution&#8217;s aerosols can seed clouds or form raindrops, depending on their size, composition and the conditions in which they find themselves. Because these skills likely contribute to rainfall pattern<\/span><\/b>s, the researchers explored the aerosols in more depth.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">Cloud droplets form around aerosols<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">, so the team determined the concentration of cloud droplets over China. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">They found higher concentrations of droplets when more aerosols were present. But more droplets mean that each cloud droplet is smaller<\/span><\/b>, in the same way that filling 10 ice cream cones from a quart of ice cream results in smaller scoops than if the same amount were put in only five cones. This result suggested that <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">aerosols create smaller water droplets, which in turn have a harder time forming rainclouds<\/span><\/b>. The team <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">verified this with computer models <\/span><\/b>of pristine, moderately polluted or heavily polluted skies. <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">In the most heavily polluted simulation, rain fell at significantly lower frequencies than in the pristine conditions<\/span><\/b>. An examination of the cloud and rain drops showed that these <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: green;\">water drops in polluted cases are up to 50 percent smaller than in clean skies. The smaller size impedes the formation of rain clouds and the falling of rain<\/span><\/b>.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">Qian said the next step in their research is to examine new data from the DOE&#8217;s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility in the central eastern Chinese city of Shouxian. The data was collected from April to December of 2008. \u00abThis work is important <b style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(51, 102, 255);\">because modeling studies of individual cases of pollution&#8217;s effect on convective clouds have shown varying results, depending on the environmental conditions<\/span><\/b>,\u00bb said coauthor Ruby Leung. \u00abThe ARM data collected at Shouxian should provide more detailed measurements of both aerosols and clouds to enable us to quantify the impacts of aerosols on precipitation under different atmospheric and pollution conditions.\u00bb<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">The work was supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within the DOE Office of Science under a bilateral agreement on regional climate research with the China Ministry of Science and Technology.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Journal reference:Qian et al. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">Heavy pollution suppresses light rain in <\/span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">China<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">: Observations and modeling. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Journal of Geophysical Research, 2009; 114D00K02 DOI: <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1029\/2008JD011575\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"\" lang=\"EN-GB\">10.1029\/2008JD011575<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\"> <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Adapted from materials provided by <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnl.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"\" lang=\"EN-GB\">DOE\/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\" lang=\"EN-GB\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;\">| <a href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250\" target=\"_blank\">More<\/a> <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quien contamina paga. Ojal\u00e1 fuera cierto pero es mera propaganda pol\u00edtica. Sin embargo va a resultar que la atm\u00f3sfera se toma la justicia por su cuenta. Recientes estudios muestran que la contaminaci\u00f3n del aire generada por las actividades industriales incrementa el n\u00famero de part\u00edculas en suspensi\u00f3n atmosf\u00e9rica, pero a costa de disminuir su tama\u00f1o. Hablamos de aerosoles. Estos \u00faltimos act\u00faan como nucleadores del vapor de agua que, al convertirse en gotas, terminan por caer al suelo en forma de precipitaciones. No obstante si el tama\u00f1o de los aerosoles es demasiado peque\u00f1o, tambi\u00e9n lo es su potencial para condensar el vapor\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[594,612,592,615,585,598],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":4}},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134992,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124798\/revisions\/134992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}