The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), a government entity that develops the model building code for all provinces and territories in Australia, is in the process of updating its Indoor Air Quality Verification Methods Handbook to reflect the latest scientific evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent article by EOS writer Jackie Rocheleau highlights a growing concern about wildfire smoke and other pollutants that continue to exist in a diluted quantity within our atmosphere. With wildfires growing in size and quantity due to climate change, the original idea that simply waiting for the pollutants to disperse would be enough to protect human health, is coming into question.
Postdoctoral scholar position: Hygroscopicity and CCN potential of organic functional groups in ambient aerosol, University of California, Davis
The Air Quality Research Center (AQRC) at the University of California, Davis is seeking a postdoctoral scholar to perform laboratory research to investigate the hygroscopicity and CCN potential of organic functional groups in aerosol. The post-doctoral fellow will be mentored by Drs. Ann M. Dillner and Anthony Wexler.
The Air Quality Monitoring Team (AQMT) at UC Davis has operated the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) ambient speciated particulate monitoring network since its inception in 1988. Beginning in 2015, AQMT took on the laboratory analysis and data handling for the Chemical Speciation Network (CSN). These two networks encompass over 300 sites delivering over 60 PM2.5 species across the country every third day.
The Air Quality Research Center couldn't be happier to support Steve Cliff in his journey to be the newest administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As a former researcher within the center, he has been an advocate for reducing emissions through decreased vehicular traffic and increased active transportation. After working at the AQRC, he continued on to hold positions at the California Air Resources Administration and the California Department of Transportation.
In the narrative of the “Tragedy of the Commons”,(1,2) a shared grazing area (aka common pool resource(3)) is trampled into overgrazed ruin by a pervasion of actors who exploit the resource more quickly than can be sustainably allotted. Regardless of whether there is consciousness of guilt, this is theft.
Ann M. Dillner, Associate Director of Analytical Research, contributed to a recently published study on biomass burning particulate emissions.
Particulate matter (PM) affects visibility, climate, and public health. Organic matter (OM), a uniquely complex portion of PM, can make up more than half of total atmospheric fine PM mass.
Year after year California has seen some of the largest and most deadly wildfires, not only by acreage burned, but by also by hazardous air quality. The smoke has turned some cities in neighboring state’s air quality into the dirties in the world, including outside of the state.
Last week, Michael S. Regan, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, announced that the EPA will reconsider strengthening the limits and standards for fine particulate matter.
Earth Day is this Thursday, April 22 and to help reporters develop stories about air quality monitoring, modeling and evaluation, the Air Quality Research Center is here with a few researchers and educators to support the sharing of knowledge.
Ann Dillner
Research Engineer, Air Quality Research Center (AQRC)
Over 111 million metric tons of CO2 were emitted by wildfires in California for the 2020 year. The transportation sector is the only area to have emitted more carbon dioxide at over 169 million metric tons. While from the outset, that looks pretty bad, you may still wonder, "In actuality, how bad is the wildfire smoke for Climate Change?"
In an interview with the SF Chronical, AQRC Director, Tony Wexler, stated that the wildfire carbon emissions are of almost no concern for him in relation to climate change.
