Identification

Title

Pollution and its Impacts on the South American Cryosphere

Abstract

This article is a review of the science goals and activities initiated within the framework of the Pollution and its Impacts on the South American Cryosphere (PISAC) initiative. Air pollution associated with biomass burning and urban emissions affects extensive areas of South America. We focus on black carbon (BC) aerosol and its impacts on air quality, water availability, and climate, with an emphasis on the Andean cryosphere. BC is one of the key short-lived climate pollutants that is a topic of growing interest for near-term mitigation of these issues. Limited scientific evidence indicates that the Andean cryosphere has already responded to climate change with receding glaciers and snow cover, which directly affect water resources, agriculture, and energy production in the Andean region of South America. Despite the paucity of systematic observations along the Andes, a few studies have detected BC on snow and glaciers in the Andes. These, in addition to existing and projected emissions and weather patterns, suggest a possible contribution of BC to the observed retreat of the Andean cryosphere. Here we provide an overview of the current understanding of these issues from scientific and policy perspectives, and propose strategic expansions to the relevant measurement infrastructure in the region.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7pg1t7m

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2015-12-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact