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Avoided deforestation Deforestation accounts for 20% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, yet policy makers often overlook the role of the natural ecosystems in climate mitigation.
Biofuels Most previous assessments of biofuel production failed to account for the carbon emissions that occur when natural ecosystems are converted to cropland. In work that was published in Science [Righelato & Spracklen, 2007] we showed that biofuels must be grown for many decades to repay this 'biofuel carbon debt' and that reforestation can sequester much greater amounts of carbon.
Particle Formation Particle formation (the conversion of gas-phase species into particles) has been observed around the world but the importance for regional and global aerosol concentrations is unknown. We have included a Boundary Layer particle formation mechanism in a global aerosol model. We use this model [Spracklen et al., 2006] to study the contribution of BL formation events to global and regional aerosol concentrations. Modelling BL particle formation events Contribution of BL formation events to total particle concentrations Forest Fires, Climate Change and Air Quality We are investigating the affect of future climate change on forest fires in the U.S. and Canada and the impact this will have on U.S. and global air quality. Wildfires drive the interannual variability in organic carbon aerosol in the western U.S.
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Tel: +44 113-343-7488 dominick@env.leeds.ac.uk |