Soot levels alarming: Study….Sreejiraj Eluvangal
India has launched a first-of-its-kind study to ascertain the contribution of soot (black carbon) towards global warming, trying to ‘break into’ the world of ecological research dominated by Western countries.
The project, that will see the addition of 24 observatories to the existing 36 carbon monitoring centres, will try to identify the exact sources of particulate carbon, one of the major causes of respiratory illnesses and a contributing factor for cancer and heart disease.
The Rs200-crore research project is the brain-child of environment minister Jairam Ramesh and the findings may lead to tougher laws on the use of diesel and coal in transportation and power generation.
Early indications on the distribution of soot particles over India’s atmosphere have been somewhat puzzling, said J Srinivasan, head of the climate change centre at Bangalore’s Indian Institute of Science.
He pointed out that unexpectedly large amounts of aerosols — suspended solid particles — have been found at high altitudes over India.
The normal level of soot is around 2-4 micrograms per cubic metre of air — found in cities, such as Bangalore and Chennai. “However, when we sent up a research balloon over Hyderabad, we ran into an area which had extremely high deposits of black carbon, as much as 14 micrograms per cubic metre,” he said.
Source: DNA, Page No.: 16, Dated: 30th March 2011