William Atkins
Saturday, 11 October 2008 20:07
Science -
Climate
Page 2 of 3
The “chemical equator,” or chemical boundary, is above and to the north of the low-pressure belt called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ, also called the Monsoon trough, Doldrums, and Equatorial Convergence Zone).
The rising of warm, moist air into the atmosphere from latitudes just north and south of the equator forms the ITCZ. It occurs above central Australia. The ITCZ also acts like a barrier between the polluted Northern Hemisphere and the clean Southern Hemisphere.
In fact, on the north side of the Western Pacific, levels of carbon
monoxide were found by the researchers to be four times the levels found on the southern
side.
Carbon monoxide is produced from the partial combustion of carbon compounds. Motorized vehicles are one large producer of carbon monoxide.
The results were published in the
Journal of Geophysical Research--Atmospheres, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
Dr. Hamilton says that the “chemical equator” may only exist temporarily, since their research was performed during the Australian-Indonesian monsoons in January-February 2006.
Comments from Dr. Hamilton follow on page three.
