Atmospheric Aerosols in a Changing World

Abstract:

Aerosols in the atmosphere impact human and environmental health, visibility, and climate. Exposure to air pollution is the leading environmental cause of premature mortality world-wide. The role of aerosols on the Earth’s climate represents the single largest source of uncertainty in our understanding of global radiative forcing.

Tremendous strides have been made to clean up the air in recent decades, and yet poor air quality continues to plague many regions of the world, and our understanding of how global change will feedback on to aerosol sources, formation, and impacts is limited.

In this talk, I will use recent results from my research group to highlight some of the key uncertainties and research topics in global aerosol lifecycle.