Why is atmospheric science important?
Climate change, the effects of air pollution on our health and our climate, the ozone hole, aircraft emissions, particles from vehicle exhausts. These issues, which concern us all, can only be tackled by actions and policies that rely on atmospheric science.
International agreements such as the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols need high quality science to inform policy and assess compliance.
Better understanding and forecasting of natural weather hazards, such as storms, floods and droughts, can save lives and livelihoods.
Ability to predict the weather and climate on a range of time scales has large economic benefits to agriculture, water resources, and industry.
Sustainable energy production often depends on a better understanding of processes in the atmosphere.
Control strategies for problems such as polluting ozone in the troposphere, particulate air pollution and aircraft emissions must be based upon sound science, including the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere, and its interaction with land and ocean. Many atmospheric processes remain poorly understood. Yet since their effects are often global, we need international agreement on the fundamental science before we can develop effective regulations.
Science that informs policy does not always come from directed research programmes. The discovery by NERC's British Antarctic Survey of the Antarctic ozone hole provided an early warning of the dangerous thinning of the ozone layer worldwide, and spurred international efforts to curb the production of CFCs through the Montreal Protocol. British scientists began their measurements of Antarctic ozone in 1957. Their aim was basic science: to gather data to understand the important role that ozone plays through absorbing solar energy, in determining the temperature profile of the stratosphere and its wind circulation.