Air pollution over Asia influences global weather and makes Pacific storms more intense

In the first study of its kind, scientists have compared air pollution rates from 1850 to 2000 and found that anthropogenic (human-made) particles from Asia impact the Pacific storm track that can influence weather over much of the world.

The team, which includes several researchers from Texas A&M University, has had its work published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Yuan Wang, Yun Lin, Jiaxi Hu, Bowen Pan, Misti Levy and Renyi Zhang of Texas A&M's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, along with colleagues from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the University of California at San Diego and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributed to the work.

The team used detailed pollution emission data compiled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and looked at two scenarios: one for a rate in 1850 -- the pre-Industrial era -- and from 2000, termed present-day.

By comparing the results from an advanced global climate model, the team found that anthropogenic aerosols conclusively impact cloud formations and mid-latitude cyclones associated with the Pacific storm track.

"There appears to be little doubt that these particles from Asia affect storms sweeping across the Pacific and subsequently the weather patterns in North America and the rest of the world," Zhang says of the findings.

"The climate model is quite clear on this point. The aerosols formed by human activities from fast-growing Asian economies do impact storm formation and global air circulation downstream. They tend to make storms deeper and stronger and more intense, and these storms also have more precipitation in them. We believe this is the first time that a study has provided such a global perspective."

In recent years, researchers have learned that atmospheric aerosols affect the climate, either directly by scattering or absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly by altering cloud formations. Increasing levels of such particles have raised concerns because of their potential impacts on regional and global atmospheric circulation.

In addition, Zhang says large amounts of aerosols and their long-term transport from Asia across the Pacific can clearly be seen by satellite images.

The Pacific storm track represents a critical driver in the general global circulation by transporting heat and moisture, the team notes. The transfer of heat and moisture appears to be increased over the storm track downstream, meaning that the Pacific storm track is intensified because of the Asian air pollution outflow.

"Our results support previous findings that show that particles in the air over Asia tend to affect global weather patterns," Zhang adds.

"It shows they can affect the Earth's weather significantly."

Yuan Wang, who conducted the research with Zhang while at Texas A&M, currently works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar.

The study was funded by grants from NASA, the Department of Energy, Texas A&M's Supercomputing facilities and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

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Solar-powered plane makes 19-hour flight

What's billed as the first intercontinental flight for a solar-powered aircraft landed late Tuesday night in Rabat, Morocco after a 19-hour journey from Madrid, Spain.

"The flight over the Gibraltar straight was a magical moment," pilot and adventurer Bertrand Piccard, who has already circumnavigated the world by balloon, said upon arrival at the Rabat airport. He told reporters that his Solar Impulse craft came to Morocco "out of admiration for Morocco's pioneering solar energy program," according to the Associated Press.

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The single-seat aircraft has 12,000 solar cells spread across a wingspan similar to that of a large commercial jet airliner. Organizers say it weighs, however, about as much as an average family car.

Solar Impulse made the first leg of its journey, from Switzerland to Madrid, in late May but since it can only fly in ideal weather, it had to wait for the right conditions to continue on toward Morocco. It climbed up to 27,000 feet and reached top speeds of more than 75 miles per hour.

Piccard said the plane isn't meant to replace conventional airplanes but rather to show what solar energy can accomplish. "All of the technology on this plane can be used in daily life," he said, reports AP.

His project, begun in 2003, aims for a round-the-world flight with a new, upgraded plane in 2014. Estimated to have cost about $100 million, it has received funding from major corporations, including Deutsche Bank, Bayer and Schindler.

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Tropical Storm Beryl makes landfall in Florida

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Japan quake makes 2011 costliest disaster year (AFP)

BERLIN (AFP) – Japan's earthquake in March is set to make 2011 the costliest year to date for natural disasters, reinsurer Munich Re said on Tuesday, although the number of deaths globally is relatively low so far.

Total global losses from natural disasters for the first six months alone were $265 billion, easily exceeding the $220 billion recorded for the whole of 2005, previously the most expensive year to date, the German firm said.

The economic loss for the first half of 2011 was more than five times higher than the average of the past 10 years, Munich Re said, and more than double the total for 2010 of $130 billion.

Moreover, first-half losses are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the north Atlantic and typhoons in the northwest Pacific, Munich Re added.

Not all the damage will be covered by insurance companies however, with "insured losses" in the first six months some $60 billion, nearly five times the average since 2001.

"It is very rare for such an extreme accumulation of natural hazard events to be encountered," Munich Re, which is the world's top reinsurer, said in a statement.

The 9.0-magnitude quake on March 11, the strongest ever registered in Japan, caused losses of 210 billion euros, making it the costliest natural catastrophe on record, surpassing even Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005.

Katrina, which pummelled the southern United States in August and caused devastating flooding that swallowed 80 percent of New Orleans, caused $125 billion worth of damage.

Insured losses from Katrina were much higher at $62 billion, however, more than double the $30-billion bill for the Japanese quake, which also knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, leaking radiation.

The quake was also the biggest catastrophe to occur in the first half of 2011 in human terms.

At least 15,500 people died and and thousands are still missing after the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, which devastated entire cities along the northeast coast of Japan, Munich Re said.

In terms of the human cost overall, however, 2011 is relatively benign -- so far.

Natural disasters killed 19,380 people in the first six months, compared to 230,300 in 2010.

In January 2010 an earthquake in Haiti killed some 225,000 people, while more than 50,000 perished in heatwaves and forest fires in Russia. Thousands also died in earthquakes and floods in China and Pakistan.

The total number of loss-relevant natural events in the first six months of 2011 was 355, somewhat below the average for the previous 10 years of 390.

The next costliest natural disaster in the first half of 2011 was a severe earthquake that shook Christchurch, New Zealand, in February, causing $20 billion in damage and killing 181 people, Munich Re said.

Severe storms in the southern and midwest United States in April and May killed 520 people and caused $14.5 billion in damages, with insured losses around $10 billion.

Floods in Queensland in northeast Australia in December and January caused $7.3 billion in damage, $2.6 billion of it insured, and killed 35 people.

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