Warming the early earth—CO2 reconsidered

Despite a fainter Sun, the surface of the early Earth was mostly ice-free. Proposed solutions to this so-called “faint young Sun problem” have usually involved higher amounts of greenhouse gases than present in the modern-day atmosphere. However, geological evidence seemed to indicate that the atmospheric CO₂ concentrations during the Archaean and Proterozoic were far too low to keep the surface from freezing. With a radiative-convective model including new, updated thermal absorption coefficients, we found that the amount of CO₂ necessary to obtain 273 K at the surface is reduced up to an order of magnitude compared to previous studies. For the late Archaean and early Proterozoic period of the Earth, we calculate that CO₂ partial pressures of only about 2.9 mb are required to keep its surface from freezing which is compatible with the amount inferred from sediment studies. This conclusion was not significantly changed when we varied model parameters such as relative humidity or surface albedo, obtaining CO₂ partial pressures for the late Archaean between 1.5 and 5.5 mb. Thus, the contradiction between sediment data and model results disappears for the late Archaean and early proterozoic.     

Southern high latitude climate variability in the Late Cretaceous greenhouse world

A palynological study of oil exploration wells in the Gippsland Basin southeastern Australia has provided a record of southern high latitude climate variability for the last 12 million years of the Cretaceous greenhouse world. During this time, the vegetation was dominated by a cool to temperate flora of Podocarpaceae, Proteaceae and Nothofagidites spp. at a latitude of 60°S. Milankovitch forced cyclic alternations from drier to wetter climatic periods caused vegetation variability from 72 to 77 Ma. This climate change was probably related to the waxing and waning of ephemeral (100 ky) small ice sheets in Antarctica during times of insolation minima and maxima. Drying and cooling after 72 Ma culminated from 68 to 66 Ma, mirroring trends in global δ¹⁸O data. Quantitative palynofloral analyses have the potential to provide realistic proxies for small-scale climate variability in the predominantly ice-free Late Cretaceous.     

Impacts of a large Sahelian city on groundwater hydrodynamics and quality: example of Niamey (Niger)

The management of groundwater resources is very important in the semiarid Sahel region, which is experiencing rapid urban development. Impacts of urbanization on groundwater resources were investigated in the unconfined aquifer of the Continental Terminal beneath the city of Niamey, Niger, using water level and chemical data. Hydrodynamic and chemical changes are best described by a combination of factors including the historical development of the city, current land use, water-table depth and topography. Seasonal groundwater recharge occurs with high spatial variability, as indicated by water-level monitoring in all wells, but there was no interannual trend over the 5-year study period. Groundwater salinity shows high spatial variability and a minor rising trend. The highest salinity is in the old city centre, with Na–NO₃ dominant, and it increases seasonally with recharge. Salinity is much lower and more variable in the suburbs (Ca–HCO₃, Ca–NO₃, and Na–NO₃ dominant). Nitrate is the main ionic contaminant and is seasonally or permanently above the international guidelines for drinking water quality in 36 % of sampled wells, with a peak value of 112 mg L^?1 NO₃–N (8 meq L^?1). Comparison of urban and rural sites indicates a long-term increase in groundwater recharge and nitrate enrichment in the urban area with serious implications for groundwater management in the region.     

Chemical characterization of fine particulate matter during peak PM10 episodes in Apulia (South Italy)

Some peak PM10 episodes, occurred during PM monitoring campaigns performed on October 2005 and February and June 2006 in Bari town, have been characterized. Moreover back trajectories of air masses and Principal Component Analyses were applied. Three of the peak PM10 episodes investigated were related to local emissions of primary pollutants during poor atmospheric dispersion conditions. The other two peak PM10 episodes considered are related with long range transport air masses toward Apulia region: in one case the chemical characterization and the back trajectories analysis indicate that high PM10 value detected is due to the Saharan dust advection in the Apulia region; in the other case air masses with different origin give rise to high PM10 value.Moreover PM10 daily mean concentrations, presented in this paper collected from January 2005 to August 2007 and obtained by automatic device in six stations of air quality monitoring networks in Bari territory, do not show a seasonal trend for PM10 concentrations, contrary to the PM10 trend shown in the towns of North Italy. This can be explained mostly considering that our region presents generally meteo-climatic conditions that favour pollutants dispersion.