ATMOSPHERIC BROWN CLOUD

ATMOSPHERIC BROWN CLOUD

1. EFFECTS

   • affect human health problem
     • people might inhale the unsafe air which contained chemical such as carbon monoxides and other harmful particles that give negative impact to human health
     • World Health Organization (WHO) had recorded about 6251 deaths in Malaysia which is due to the lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and respiratory disease caused by the air pollution in 2012
     • in 2015 aerosol from the air pollution also has caused more than 6500 premature deaths
   • affect the regional climate and monsoon rainfall
     • cause the reduction of the strength of monsoon circulation and caused extreme weather in Malaysia.
     • eg; flood happen in Dec 2014 to Jan 2015 which have been described as the worst floods in decades. This flood had affected 200 000 people and cause 24 of death
     • The dimming effect at the earth’s surface causes by the ABCs increased the atmospheric solar heating

2. CAUSES

   • burning of biomass
     • farmers burn their crops because burning is one way to dispose of the waste immediately after harvest
     • Farmers believe that burning the crops can help them control the pathogen without knowing its effect on the environment
     • increased the PM10 concentration levels at six air quality stations in the state of Sarawak and east Malaysia
   • fossil fuel combustion
     • increasing number of vehicles, will increase the combustion of fossil fuel
     • Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA) Malaysian released vehicle registration data. 28,181,203 units (30 June 2017). 20,188,565 units (2010)
     • vehicles are one the major producer in producing high amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other pollution
     • In 2013, transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into the atmosphere

3. INTRODUCTION

   • Atmospheric brown cloud is a distinguishable type of carbonaceous material that is formed primarily in flames, is directly emitted to the atmosphere, and has a unique combination of physical properties
   • consisting of anthropogenic aerosols such as sulphates, nitrate, black carbon and gaseous pollutant such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, and other volatile organic compound