Research Unveils Impact Of Fossil Fuel Combustion On Himalayan Air Quality (Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash)
Researchers from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), DST, and the University of Delhi through joint research observed the impact of fossil fuel burning on air pollution in the Himalayas.
Under the present study, an extensive high-resolution ground-based observation was conducted for the carbonaceous aerosols for four years in the Himalayan territories of Nainital. The new study shows the impact of fossil fuel combustion in comparison to biomass burning on the Himalayan air. Researchers observed that fossil fuel combustion in the neighbouring Indo-Gangetic plain has a greater impact on the warming in the Himalayas.
The Department of Science and Technology expressed hope that the study will help policymakers by facilitating the understanding of climatic impact in the Himalayas. Earlier the quantitative assessment of the carbonaceous aerosols was lacking in the region which curtailed informed decision-making at the policy level.
A new study shows that the influence of #FossilFuel combustion on #AirPollution in #Himalayas extends throughout the year with greater impact on warming than #biomass #burning, which is notable in specific months, particularly #winter months.
🔗https://t.co/mp09Y2Oq5G pic.twitter.com/NvHWxVQVKq
— DSTIndia (@IndiaDST) February 15, 2024
The research is published in an international journal named ‘Aerosols and Air Quality Research’. The study was conducted by Priyanka Srivastava along with Dr Manisha Naja and Prof. T.R. Seshadri.
The results showed that fossil fuel combustion brings 3.5 times more Black Carbon in comparison to biomass burning annually. A dominant fraction of organic content in the atmosphere comes from the primary sources and the majority of the pollutants reach the cleaner air from the lower altitude cities during the day time, the study reveals.
Stubble burning which is also one of the major causes of air pollution in Northern India and forest fires came up as the contributing factors to the deteriorating air quality in the Himalayan terrain. The burning of farmland crop is a pervasive problem across North India. The study emphasises that biomass burning which dominates the winter does not contribute to the pollution to the level of fossil fuel burning, which could exacerbate climate change in the region.
The comprehensive study unveiled the sources and radiative impacts of aerosols including Black Carbon (BC) and Organic Carbon (OC). Notably, Black Carbon is considered one of the major global warming agents after CO2.
