Model simulations of the changing distribution of Ozone and its radiative forcing of climate: past, present and future

A background tropospheric chemistry model that is coupled to the general circulation model ECHAM4 is used to calculate tropospheric ozone with preindustrial, present-day and future (IS92a) emission scenarios as boundary conditions. The model calculates separate contributions to tropospheric ozone levels from stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) and from photo- chemical production in the troposphere. In the preindustrial atmosphere, the simulated annual tropospheric ozone content is 190 Tg 03, of which about 110 Tg 03 originates from the strato- sphere. In the present-day simulation the ozone content is about 80 Tg 03 larger, mainly due to O3 precursor emissions from industrial processes in the NH and from biomass burning in trop- ical regions. In the next few decades, industrial growth is expected to occur mainly at NH (sub) tropical latitudes, leading to an additional increase of the tropospheric ozone budget by 60 Tg 03. We calculate a global and annual average radiative forcing by tropospheric ozone perturbations of 0.42 w m-2 creases in the next few decades of 0.31 W m-2 for the present-day simulation, and an additional forcing due to ozone in- The model results indicate that the amount of tropospheric ozone from stratospheric origin remains relatively unaffected by the changing pho- tochemistry

From the brain to the field: The applications of social neuroscience to economics, health, and law

Social neuroscience aims to understand the biological systems that underlie people’s thoughts, feelings and actions in light of the social context in which they operate. Over the past few decades, social neuroscience has captured the interest of scholars, practitioners, and experts in other disciplines, as well as the general public who more and more draw upon the insights and methods of social neuroscience to explain, predict and change behavior. With the popularity of the field growing, it has become increasingly important to consider the validity of social neuroscience findings as well as what questions it can and cannot address. In the present review article, we examine the contribution of social neuroscience to economics, health, and law, three domains with clear societal relevance. We address the concerns that the extrapolation of neuroscientific results to applied social issues raises within each of these domains, and we suggest guidelines and good practices to circumvent these concerns

Distribution and origin of ozone in the eastern Mediterranean free troposphere during MINOS (August 2001)

International audienceA coupled tropospheric chemistry ? climate model is used to reproduce and analyze tropospheric ozone distributions observed during the MINOS campaign in the eastern Mediterranean region (August, 2001). Generally, regional atmospheric dynamics in summer are strongly influenced by the occurrence of an upper tropospheric anti-cyclone, associated with the Asian summer monsoon and centered over the Tibetan Plateau. The anti-cyclone affects the chemical composition of the upper troposphere, where ozone concentrations of about 50 ppbv were measured, through advection of boundary layer air from South-East Asia. A layer between 4?6 km thickness and containing up to 120 ppbv of ozone was present beneath. Ozone from stratospheric origin and from lightning NOx contributed to this layer. Additionally, pollutant ozone from North America was mixed in. Ozone in the lower troposphere originated mainly from the European continent. Modeled ozone profiles are in reasonable agreement with the observations. The stratospheric influence is sometimes overestimated by the model due to too strong vertical diffusion associated with the relatively coarse vertical resolution of the model, and specific convective events are not reproduced realistically. The modeled tropospheric ozone column over the eastern Mediterranean is ~50 DU in summer, to which ozone from recent stratospheric origin contributes about 30%, ozone from lightning 13%, and from South-East Asia, North America and Europe about 7%, 8% and 14%, respectively, adding to a long-term hemispheric background of 25% of the column

Atmospheric pollutant outflow from southern Asia: a review

Southern Asia, extending from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, is one of the most heavily populated regions of the world. Biofuel and biomass burning play a disproportionately large role in the emissions of most key pollutant gases and aerosols there, in contrast to much of the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, where fossil fuel burning and industrial processes tend to dominate. This results in polluted air masses which are enriched in carbon-containing aerosols, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons. The outflow and long-distance transport of these polluted air masses is characterized by three distinct seasonal circulation patterns: the winter monsoon, the summer monsoon, and the monsoon transition periods. During winter, the near-surface flow is mostly northeasterly, and the regional pollution forms a thick haze layer in the lower troposphere which spreads out over millions of square km between southern Asia and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), located several degrees south of the equator over the Indian Ocean during this period. During summer, the heavy monsoon rains effectively remove soluble gases and aerosols. Less soluble species, on the other hand, are lifted to the upper troposphere in deep convective clouds, and are then transported away from the region by strong upper tropospheric winds, particularly towards northern Africa and the Mediterranean in the tropical easterly jet. Part of the pollution can reach the tropical tropopause layer, the gateway to the stratosphere. During the monsoon transition periods, the flow across the Indian Ocean is primarily zonal, and strong pollution plumes originating from both southeastern Asia and from Africa spread across the central Indian Ocean. This paper provides a review of the current state of knowledge based on the many observational and modeling studies over the last decades that have examined the southern Asian atmospheric pollutant outflow and its large scale effects. An outlook is provided as a guideline for future research, pointing out particularly critical issues such as: resolving discrepancies between top down and bottom up emissions estimates; assessing the processing and aging of the pollutant outflow; developing a better understanding of the observed elevated pollutant layers and their relationship to local sea breeze and large scale monsoon circulations; and determining the impacts of the pollutant outflow on the Asian monsoon meteorology and the regional hydrological cycle, in particular the mountain cryospheric reservoirs and the fresh water supply, which in turn directly impact the lives of over a billion inhabitants of southern Asia

Oxygenated compounds in aged biomass burning plumes over the Eastern Mediterranean: evidence for strong secondary production of methanol and acetone

International audienceAirborne measurements of acetone, methanol, PAN, acetonitrile (by Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry), and CO (by Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy) have been performed during the Mediterranean Intensive Oxidants Study (MINOS August 2001). We have identified ten biomass burning plumes from strongly elevated acetonitrile mixing ratios. The characteristic biomass burning signatures obtained from these plumes reveal secondary production of acetone and methanol, while CO photochemically declines in the plumes. Mean excess mixing ratios - normalized to CO - of 1.8%, 0.20%, 3.8%, and 0.65% for acetone, acetonitrile, methanol, and PAN, respectively, were found. By scaling to an assumed global annual source of 663-807Tg CO, biomass burning emissions of 25-31 and 29-35 Tg/yr for acetone and methanol are estimated, respectively. Our measurements suggest that the present biomass burning contributions of acetone and methanol are significantly underestimated due to the neglect of secondary formation within the plume. Median acetonitrile mixing ratios throughout the troposphere were around 150pmol/mol, in accord with current biomass burning inventories and an atmospheric lifetime of ~6 months

The Prosocial Cyberball Game: Compensating for social exclusion and its associations with empathic concern and bullying in adolescents

In this study we examined prosocial compensating behavior towards socially excluded ingroup and outgroup members by using a ‘Prosocial Cyberball Game’ in 9–17 year old Dutch adolescents (N = 133). Results showed that adolescents compensated for the social exclusion of an unknown peer in a virtual ball tossing game, by tossing the ball more often to that player in compensation conditions compared to the fair play condition. The proportion of tosses towards the excluded player did not significantly differ as a function of the group status of that player. Although compensating behavior towards ingroup versus outgroup members did not differ, the underlying motivation for this behavior may vary. More empathic concern was associated with more prosocial tosses towards an ingroup member, while more self-reported bullying behavior was associated with less compensating behavior in the outgroup condition. These findings may have practical implications for programs intending to change bystander behavior in bullying situations

Jumping on the 'bad'wagon? How group membership influences responses to the social exclusion of others

In four studies, we addressed whether group membership influences behavioral and neural responses to the social exclusion of others. Participants played a modified three-player Cyberball game (Studies 1–3) or a team-selection task (Study 4) in the absence or presence of a minimal group setting. In the absence of a minimal group, when one player excluded another player, participants actively included the excluded target. When the excluder was from the in-group and the excluded player from the out-group, participants were less likely to intervene (Studies 1–3) and also more often went along with the exclusion (Study 4). Functional magnetic resonance imaging results (Study 3) showed that greater exclusion in the minimal group setting concurred with increased activation in the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, a region associated with overriding cognitive conflict. Self-reports from Study 4 supported these results by showing that participants’ responses to the target’s exclusion were motivated by group membership as well as participants’ general aversion to exclude others. Together, the findings suggest that when people witness social exclusion, group membership triggers a motivational conflict between favoring the in-group and including the out-group target. This underscores the importance of group composition for understanding the dynamics of social exclusion.Social decision makin