The Barometer

The Barometer team are joined by Dr Juana Maria Delgado-Saborit of the University of Birmingham and the Barcelona Institute of Global Health.  We discuss global and UK statistics around the health impacts of poor air quality before Dr Delgado-Saborit details how scientists research this complex and pressing topic.

Associated links:

Dr Juana Maria Delgado-Saborit's Page

World Health Organisation Resources

UK Government Report on Air Quality 

Joshi, Emma and Simon tackle the atmospheric science questions posed by visitors to this year's University of Manchester Community Festival (recorded 15th June).

0:00-0:25 Welcome

0:25-1:12 How do clouds move?

1:12-2:03 How does it rain?

2:03-2:39 How does water enter the sky?

2:39-3:30 How is snow created?

3:30-5:19 How does lightning form?

5:19-6:39 Why is it cold in the British summer?

6:39-7:25 Why can't the British summer be warm?

7:25-9:03 Why does continental Europe get a nicer summer than England?

9:03-10:56 How bad are diesel cars?

10:56-13:01 Is global warming over-rated?

13:01-14:34 Are we already at runaway climate change?

14:34-17:06 What will the climate be like over the next 10,000 years?

Dr Sarah Moller is the Air Pollution theme leader for the National Centre for Atmospheric Science.  She joins Simon O'Meara to discuss her progression from chemistry undergraduate, the Centre's strategy for tackling air pollution, past successes and working with policy makers and individuals.

University of York Staff Profile

Sarah Twitter

We welcome Len Shaffrey back to Manchester where he studied undergraduate Maths and Physics.  He explains what the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) is and describes the pioneering atmospheric science it contributes toward.  He is the theme leader for Climate and High Impact Weather at NCAS.

NCAS Twitter: @AtmosScience

Len Twitter: @Len_Shaffrey

Dr Michelle Cain (University of Oxford) interviews Dr Rebecca Fisher (Royal Holloway University of London), finding out about ground-based measurements of methane and how they can help global models.  For more about the Methane Observations and Yearly Assessments (MOYA) project check out their blog and website: https://moya.blogs.bris.ac.uk.

Join Dr Michelle Cain (University of Oxford) as she interviews Patrick Barker (University of Manchester) on taking measurements aboard the research aircraft, how a laser spectrometer works and how to apportion signals to sources.

Join Patrick Barker (University of Manchester) as he interviews Dr Michelle Cain (University of Oxford) on modelling methane emissions, and discusses why methane is important to the Earth's climate.

Research scientist Joe Pitt interviews project lead Grant Allen to find out how and why a team of UK scientists are undertaking research aboard a specially designed aircraft in Uganda.  They are both members of the Methane Observations and Yearly Assessments (MOYA) study.  For more, read their blog here: https://moya.blogs.bris.ac.uk/311-2/

Dr. Chris Smith (University of Leeds) joins Caroline and Simon to discuss the FAIR climate model (https://github.com/OMS-NetZero/FAIR) and its contribution to the IPCC's 1.5 oC report (http://ipcc.ch/report/sr15/).  We cover the report's main findings, the motivation behind the model and its capabilities.

Zeyad Ahmed joins Simon O’Meara to discuss his application to a PhD at the University of Manchester studying dust storm initiation and development in his home country, Iraq, his methods and findings, and refeering football in the north of England.