Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 5-14-2015

Faculty Advisor(s)

Hesham El-Askary

Abstract

The economics of a country plays an important role in determining what that country considers as its priorities. A developed country, such as the U.S., is powerful economically. As a result, it has the resources and tools to focus on other aspects of the nation. One of these features is the environment. Countries undergoing urbanization and industrial development processes, such as China, are emitting large amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere. Although it has adverse health and ecological effects, China has shown very little reduction of its emissions from 2000-2014. It relies heavily on coal burning as a source of energy to power its production and export activities. In this study, data collected from remote sensing technologies (MODIS-Terra and TES) allowed for a comparison between the U.S. and China. It illustrates the discrepancy in air quality of an already industrialized country with a country still undergoing industrialization. The economic benefits and environmental hazards associated with manufacturing impose a complicated situation in the international political arena. This study evaluates methane, carbon monoxide, tropospheric ozone, and water vapor (humidity) levels, as well as temperature, in order to gain a better understanding about the chemistry of the atmosphere in China. It was shown that China suffers from substantial amounts of methane, carbon monoxide and aerosols in its atmosphere. Understanding the sources of these pollutants is important for the formulation of environmental standards. These policies can better target the origin of emissions and devise a more efficient and pragmatic solution to improve air quality.

Comments

Presented at the Spring 2015 Student Research Day at Chapman University.

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