Throughout October one of the two talks at the Millennium Café each week will provide a unique perspective on atmospheric particulates.
Tiny particles are ubiquitous in the earth’s atmosphere, their sources are legion, their chemistry is complex, they alter the climate and they pose significant hazards to human health. Technology for citizen science measurement of these particles has become widespread. Changing climate, energy and industrial systems are all likely to lead to significant trends in their abundance. This series will provide insight into the complex chemical properties of atmospheric particles, the relationship of these particulates to human industry and human health, and insight into how climate and atmospheric processes modulate their concentrations over space and time, and how the particles in turn influence the climate.
“Atmospheric Particulates: Complex, Hazardous, and Ubiquitous”
- Miriam Freedman (chemistry, 10/10)
- Aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the environment, have complex physicochemical properties, and impact human health and climate. This talk will give a wide overview of research in the area of aerosol chemistry with particular focus on the dynamics of liquid-liquid phase separation in submicron aerosol particles with application to disease transmission, ice nucleation of microplastics and biological particles, and measurement of aerosol acidity through the use of carbon quantum dots.
- Jeremy Gernand (health, 10/17)
- From our initial investigations of the health impacts from exposure to inhaled particles about 100 years ago, new capabilities in characterizing and monitoring exposures are transforming our knowledge base and pointing the way towards new options for mitigating policy and risk assessment. This presentation will review some recent research in this field and highlight where future policy and standards may be pointing.
- Kenneth Davis (transport, 10/24)
- Atmospheric particles are everywhere in the atmosphere, but they are not evenly distributed. Atmospheric transport interacts with the sources and sinks of atmospheric trace constituents to create complex spatial and temporal patterns. I will describe how we measure and simulate the atmospheric distributions of trace compounds and how we can use this information: 1) to learn more about sources and sinks of these compounds and 2) to develop hyperlocal air quality and environmental health assessments.
- Seth Blumsack (policies, 10/31)
- The United States and many other countries have been regulating the emissions of airborne particulates from power plants, vehicles and industry for decades. These policies have yielded drastic improvements in health and well-being through cleaner air. Recent interdisciplinary work at Penn State has highlighted mechanisms through which climate policy can make the air even cleaner. Well-designed climate policy can improve not only the health of future generations but can also save lives and reduce sickness today. In some cases, the immediate benefits of cleaner air can dwarf the benefits of climate mitigation. Achieving these benefits requires well designed climate policy that is coordinated over many different jurisdictions and is an active area of interdisciplinary research and engagement.
The Millennium Café runs 10-11am in the 3rd floor Café Commons of the MSC Bldg. Join researchers from across campus for a stellar cup of coffee and two <10 min interdisciplinary talks.