scholarly journals Spatial and Temporal Variation of Aerosol and Water Vapour Effects on Solar Radiation in the Mediterranean Basin during the Last Two Decades

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria A. Obregón ◽  
Maria João Costa ◽  
Ana Maria Silva ◽  
Antonio Serrano
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Precipitable Water Vapour ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

This study aims to calculate and analyse the spatial and temporal variation of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and precipitable water vapour (PWV) and their effects on solar radiation at the surface in the Mediterranean basin, one of the maritime areas with the largest aerosol loads in the world. For the achievement of this objective, a novel and validated methodology was applied. Satellite data, specifically CERES (Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System) SYN1deg products during the period 2000–2018, were used. Results show that the spatial distribution of AOT and PWV are closely linked to the spatial distributions of its effects on solar radiation. These effects are negative, indicating a reduction of solar radiation reaching the surface due to aerosol and water vapour effects. This reduction ranges between 2% and 8% for AOT, 11.5% and 15% for PWV and 14% and 20% for the combined effect. The analysis of the temporal distribution has focused on the detection of trends from their anomalies. This study has contributed to a better understanding of AOT and PWV effects on solar radiation over the Mediterranean basin, one of the most climatically sensitive regions of the planet, and highlighted the importance of water vapour.

scholarly journals Global Spatial and Temporal Variation of the Combined Effect of Aerosol and Water Vapour on Solar Radiation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 708
Author(s):  
María Ángeles Obregón ◽  
Antonio Serrano ◽  
Maria João Costa ◽  
Ana Maria Silva
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Spatial Distributions ◽  
Precipitable Water Vapour ◽  
Close Link ◽  
The Individual

This study aims to calculate the combined and individual effects of the optical thickness of aerosols (AOT) and precipitable water vapour (PWV) on the solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface at a global scale and to analyse its spatial and temporal variation. For that purpose, a novel but validated methodology is applied to CERES SYN1deg products for the period 2000–2019. Spatial distributions of AOT and PWV effects, both individually and combined, show a close link with the spatial distributions of AOT and PWV. The spatially averaged combined effect results in a −13.9% reduction in irradiance, while the average AOT effect is −2.3%, and the PWV effect is −12.1%. The temporal analysis focuses on detecting trends in the anomalies. The results show overall positive trends for AOT and PWV. Consequently, significant negative overall trends are found for the effects. However, significant positive trends for the individual AOT and the combined AOT-PWV effects are found in specific regions, such as the eastern United States, Europe or Asia, indicating successful emission control policies in these areas. This study contributes to a better understanding of the individual and combined effects of aerosols and water vapour on solar radiation at a global scale.

Air Pollution and Climate

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Lelieveld
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Nitrogen Oxides ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Transport Pathways ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

It has long been known that atmospheric pollutants can be hazardous to human health and ecosystems. This includes effects from episodic peak levels as well as the long-term exposure to relatively moderate concentration enhancements. Environmental issues related to air pollution include acidification, mostly by the strong acids from sulphur and nitrogen oxides, eutrophication by the deposition of reactive nitrogen compounds, the reduction of air quality by photo-oxidants and particulate matter, and the radiative forcing of climate by increasing greenhouse gases and by aerosol particles. Many air pollutants are photochemically formed within the atmosphere from emissions by traffic, energy generation, industry, the burning of wastes, and forest fires. The Mediterranean basin in summer is largely cloudfree, and the relatively intense solar radiation promotes the photochemical formation of ozone (O3) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN); O3 being health hazardous at levels in excess of about 100 μg/m3. Ozone is formed in the lower atmosphere as a by-product in the oxidation of reactive carbon compounds such as carbon monoxide (CO) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), catalysed by nitrogen oxides (NOx ≡ NO + NO2). In summer, notably the period from June to August, transport pathways of air pollution near the earth’s surface are typically dominated by northerly winds, carrying photo-oxidants and aerosol particles from Europe into the Mediterranean basin. Aerosol particles with a diameter of less than ∼10 μm (PM10) can have adverse health effects at a concentration of about 30 μg/m3 or higher. The fine mode particles (<2 μm diameter) are mostly composed of sulphates, nitrates, and particulate organic matter, whereas the coarse mode particles (≥2 μm) often contain substantial amounts of sea salt, Saharan dust (Chapter 14), and other mineral components. The aerosols can form widespread hazes that scatter and absorb solar radiation, thus reducing downward energy transfer and surface heating. Increased aerosol scattering causes a negative radiative forcing of climate (cooling tendency), to be weighted against the positive radiative forcing (warming tendency) by increasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), halocarbons, and tropospheric ozone (IPCC 2001).

Piracy and Law in the Ottoman Mediterranean

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. White
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Comprehensive Examination ◽  
Legal Space ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
First Time ◽  
Eastern Half ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

This book offers a comprehensive examination of the shape and impact of piracy in the eastern half of the Mediterranean and the Ottoman Empire’s administrative, legal, and diplomatic response. In the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, piracy had a tremendous effect on the formation of international law, the conduct of diplomacy, the articulation of Ottoman imperial and Islamic law, and their application in Ottoman courts. Piracy and Law draws on research in archives and libraries in Istanbul, Venice, Crete, London, and Paris to bring the Ottoman state and Ottoman victims into the story for the first time. It explains why piracy exploded after the 1570s and why the Ottoman state was largely unable to marshal an effective military solution even as it responded dynamically in the spheres of law and diplomacy. By focusing on the Ottoman victims, jurists, and officials who had to contend most with the consequences of piracy, Piracy and Law reveals a broader range of piratical practitioners than the Muslim and Catholic corsairs who have typically been the focus of study and considers their consequences for the Ottoman state and those who traveled through Ottoman waters. This book argues that what made the eastern half of the Mediterranean basin the Ottoman Mediterranean, more than sovereignty or naval supremacy—which was ephemeral—was that it was a legal space. The challenge of piracy helped to define its contours.

Unfinished and Less Authored Texts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. C. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Jewish Writers

The concept of textual unfinishedness played a role in a wide variety of cultures and contexts across the Mediterranean basin in antiquity and late antiquity. Chapter 2 documents examples of Greek, Roman, and Jewish writers reflecting explicitly in their own words about unfinished texts. Many writers claimed to have written unfinished texts on purpose for specific cultural reasons, while others claimed to have written texts that slipped out of their hands somehow with their permission.

The Alphabet and its Legacy

2019 ◽  
pp. 240-255
Author(s):  
Madadh Richey
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Generative Power ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Alphabetic Writing ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

The alphabet employed by the Phoenicians was the inheritor of a long tradition of alphabetic writing and was itself adapted for use throughout the Mediterranean basin by numerous populations speaking many languages. The present contribution traces the origins of the alphabet in Sinai and the Levant before discussing different alphabetic standardizations in Ugarit and Phoenician Tyre. The complex adaptation of the latter for representation of the Greek language is described in detail, then some brief attention is given to likely—Etruscan and other Italic alphabets—and possible (Iberian and Berber) descendants of the Phoenician alphabet. Finally, it is stressed that current research does not view the Phoenician and other alphabets as inherently simpler, more easily learned, or more democratic than other writing systems. The Phoenician alphabet remains, nevertheless, an impressive technological development worthy, especially by virtue of its generative power, of detailed study ranging from paleographic and orthographic specifications to social and political contextualization.

scholarly journals Edible Insects and Global Food Security

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 472
Author(s):  
Fabio Verneau ◽  
Mario Amato ◽  
Francesco La La Barbera
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Central America ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Edible Insects ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
The World ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Global Food ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

Starting in 2008 and lasting up until 2011, the crisis in agricultural and, in particular, cereal prices triggered a period of riots that spread from the Mediterranean basin to the rest of the world, reaching from Asia to Central America and the African continent. [...]

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