Radar probes pollution damage By environment correspondent Alex Kirby in Longyearben, Svalbard Scientists on an Arctic mountaintop studying pollution in the upper atmosphere believe it may be changing the Earth's protective systems. But their leader says he cannot afford to run his sophisticated radar array long enough to collect all the data that is needed. The radar is already obtaining data that could be collected nowhere else on Earth. The array, on a peak near Longyearben in Svalbard, Norway's Arctic archipelago, is part of Eiscat - the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association. The technique relies on the scattering of radio waves from the incoherent motions of the electrons in the ionosphere. Establishing trends Eiscat, whose members are Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the UK, has radar installations in several countries. The project's leader, its science director, Tony van Eyken, from the United Kingdom, says his team needs to be able to amass enough data to establish clear trends. The ESR mobile antenna The Svalbard radar costs �300,000 a year to run. Tony van Eyken told BBC News Online: "If I had more cash, I'd run more. "We have all this equipment, and we run for 1,000 hours annually. I'd run for 3,000 hours if I could, and it would be infinitely more useful. "In September I'll run the array 24 hours a day for 16 consecutive days, the longest stretch ever. Running for longer gives you trends, not just snapshots." Eiscat says: "There are indications that the upper atmosphere is very sensitive to environmental changes resulting from man-made pollutants transported upwards from the biosphere. "This could have an influence on the shielding properties of the upper atmosphere. Consequently, there may be a feedback effect on the biosphere." Echoes found Tony van Eyken says this refers to noctilucent clouds, which shine at night and are found at up to 85 kms above the Earth: "Nobody understands what causes them to form. "Probably they form around dust particles. But there's no record of them being seen before the 1880s, although they are more visible than the aurora, which is described in the records. "So the supposition is that they're the result of industrial pollution. We're finding strong echoes close to where they are. "What we don't know is what effect they may be having there, and possibly on the Earth's surface." Tony van Eyken wants to do more The Eiscat Svalbard Radar, ESR, began work in 1996, making improved measurements of the ionosphere and atmosphere at high latitudes in the polar cap, as well as of the coupling with the magnetosphere and the solar wind. Eiscat says the ESR's observations "will lead to major advances in the understanding of the whole chain of solar-terrestrial relations". Svalbard is the ideal choice for the ESR. The sunward side of the auroral oval, the region where the Northern Lights can be seen, and the cusp in the Earth's magnetic wind are usually at magnetic latitudes around 70 to 80 degrees. "Svalbard is at the optimum location for ground-based instrumentation to study the magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions in this region." Beacon Tony van Eyken is proud of the sophistication of the ESR array, which comprises a 32-metre mobile antenna and a 42 m fixed one. "They can detect a Stealth aircraft-sized object at the distance the US is from here," he says. "This is a very bright beacon for any civilisation that may be out there. Switching it on is a bit like going out into the jungle and making a lot of noise, and wondering who's going to come and eat you." __________________________________ JAMES K. WYERMAN Kids shoulder burden of dirty air Asthma rates are expected to double every decade. Summertime is gone, and schooltime is here -- with children walking or riding their bikes to school and participating in outdoor activities. Unfortunately, summer has left us with killer heat waves, smoggy cities and air-pollution alerts. In cities, the hazards fall disproportionately on the poor and minorities who are most likely to live next to highways and bus stations. This isn't just a matter of aesthetics and noise; it's downright unhealthy, especially for kids. Children are highly vulnerable to air pollution because their bodies are more sensitive and, being more active, they inhale more pollutants. Asthma rates are skyrocketing for kids, and are expected to double every decade, unless we change the current trends. The health impacts of dirty air are increasingly documented. Residents of our nation's most polluted cities face a one-to-two-year shorter life span than do residents of cleaner areas. More people die prematurely from particulate-matter air pollution than in auto accidents, about 50,000 per year. What's going on? Didn't Congress pass the Clean Air Act in the 1970s to clean up air pollution? Yes, but most lobbyists know that the deal is not done until the regulatory process ends and enforcement begins, often decades later. Industry has been a master at delays, and without citizen watchdogs, laws can sit on the books for years. It is true that air in most of our major cities now is cleaner than in the last century. New power plants are cleaner as are many industries. Auto pollution is being reduced, thanks in part to the recently adopted rule requiring SUVs to meet the same emission standards as passenger cars. Yet serious problems continue. Fuel-efficiency standards haven't changed in 17 years, even though ``green-car�� technology is capable of producing low-emission vehicles that get 50-70 miles per gallon. Older power plants escape under a loophole. Global-warming pollutants persist despite growing consensus that temperatures will rise two to six degrees this century. For the healthiest among us, coping with dirty air might mean not jogging on a ``high-alert�� smog day. But for kids, seniors and anyone with an impaired immune system, bad air can be deadly. Moderate air pollution may trigger sudden death in people with existing heart problems, according to new scientific studies. The Environmental Protection Agency has just taken an important step to cleaning up our air: It proposes tougher fuel and emissions standards for diesel trucks and buses that would cut pollution by 90 percent. The result will be cleaner air in our cities, suburbs and small towns. Because diesel accounts for up to 70 percent of the cancers caused by air pollution, the new rule is not debatable from a health perspective. The public has had a chance to comment on the proposed ruling, and now we wait for EPA's decision later this year. Meantime, there's still much for the public to do to clean up our nation's air: �Residents can urge their municipalities to buy low-pollution fleet vehicles and take steps to reduce their own use of cars. �Voters can elect candidates who pledge to work for clean air. An industry lobbyist once said that on bad-air days ``asthmatic kids need not go out and ride their bicycles.�� Let�s stop the pollution instead of forcing people to stay indoors. James K. Wyerman is the executive director of 20/20 Vision, a grass-roots group in Washington, D.C _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
