Building with pollution

• Main Author: Kovacheva, Zornitsa Hristova
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Lunds universitet/Institutionen för arkitektur och byggd miljö 2021
• Subjects: Arts and Architecture; Arctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; black carbon; Human health
• Online Access: http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9062381

Black carbon is an ever-growing global problem and one of the most important environmental issues of this generation. Black carbon, also known as soot, is a highly polluting substance and it is the second-largest polluter after carbon dioxide. BC consists of pure carbon in various forms and is produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels, and biomass. It is transported by air movement and wind, but can also be transferred by rain and snow. The positive aspect of BC is that it only stays in the atmosphere for a few days or weeks, whereas the atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide is about 100 years. The removal of black carbon from the atmosphere can have a major impact on the environment and human health. Because of its short lifetime, the results of its removal are visible after only a few weeks. Black carbon not only threatens major cities and the places where it is produced but because it is light and travels fast, it is a major threat to the polar ice caps. Every day it can travel thousands of kilometers from where it is produced to the Arctic, Himalayas, and Antarctica. Because BC is black, it absorbs a large amount of solar radiation, and even a small amount of soot deposited on snow or ice causes rapid melting. Black carbon warms the climate in two ways. Firstly, when it is suspended in the atmosphere, it absorbs direct sunlight and generates heat that warms the air and affects the formation of clouds and thus precipitation in some regions. Secondly, when deposited on snow and ice, it performs the same function - absorbing sunlight and trapping it instead of reflecting it into space, accelerating the melting of the most reflective natural elements - snow and ice. Recent studies suggest that black carbon is responsible for more than 40% of the ice melt and rapid warming in the Arctic, which will lead to even faster warming and wildlife extinction if no action is taken. BC has also been shown to be one of the main reasons for rapid ice melt in the Himalayas, which is the region’s main ...