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£2·3m invested in the air that we breathe

27 January 2004

A new institute opens today which will refine the art and science of predicting air quality. Its work will give advance warning of when air will become seriously polluted, helping people whose health may be affected.

The NERC Centres for Atmospheric Sciences is investing £2·3 million in the new Distributed Institute for Atmospheric Composition (DIAC).

DIAC includes experts around the UK but is led from the University of Leeds where its Director, Professor Mike Pilling, is based.

He said, "Increases in temperature associated with climate change could have serious implications for our future air quality. During a heatwave, chemicals build up in the air. As temperatures soar there is an explosion of activity as the chemicals react with one another, forming pollutants in the air above our cities. We need to measure and understand the complexities of this chemical soup to help predict when and why it happens, and what the implications are for human health."

He added, "DIAC is a great opportunity for the UK atmospheric science community to build on its excellence in observations and modelling, and to focus on the complex linkages that exist between the air that we breathe and the impact it has on our Earth system."

Experts at the launch will discuss the deteriorating air quality over London during last summer's heatwave when levels of ozone and fine particles in the air rose, exceeding EU limits designed to protect human health. They will also consider how air quality itself affects climate change: How ice clouds form from dust and aerosols and subsequently absorb or reflect the sun's radiation to heat or cool our atmosphere (one of the biggest unknowns in our climate change predictions); how soot from vehicle emissions absorbs the sun's energy causing warming (a vigorous new debate) and how the production of new gases from industry may act as greenhouse gases.

Further information

Dr Louisa Watts
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411609

Hannah Love
Press Officer
University of Leeds
Tel: 0113 343 4100

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. DIAC is being launched on Tuesday 27 January 2004 at the University of London, Chancellor's Hall, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Start time: 11.00hrs. Finish time 17.00hrs.

2. Members of the press are invited to the launch. To arrange interviews with scientists, either in advance or at the launch, please contact Dr Louisa Watts or the NERC Press Office (contact details above).

3. DIAC is a component of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). NCAS, a collaborative centre of the Natural Environment Research Council, carries out the UK's core strategic research programme in atmospheric science.

4. Although led from the University of Leeds, DIAC also incorporates research teams from universities of Cambridge, Manchester, York, Leeds, East Anglia and Birmingham.

5. A further meeting is being held on 12 February 2004 between the NERC and Defra to specifically discuss the elevated ozone levels over the UK measured during last summer's heatwave. This meeting will be held in London. For more information please contact Dr Louisa Watts (contact details above).

Press release: 02/04

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