Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Joshua Fu is an atmospheric modeler whose research has helped advance the understanding of Arctic gas flaring pollution and climate.
When a new study showed that the flaring of waste natural gas from industrial oil fields in the Northern Hemisphere is a potential source of significant amounts of nitrogen dioxide and black carbon to the Arctic, NASA reached out to him for his expertise.
“There are uncertainties in applying emission factors,” said Fu. “Modeling results have shown the role of black carbon in Arctic region and caused ice melting should be further studied.” He also pointed out other sources other than gas flaring such as ship and port emissions are necessary to estimate.
The full story can be seen at Nasa with further analysis at the agency’s Earth Observatory