Table Of ContentACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES 483
The Science of Global Change
The Impact of Human Activities
on the Environment
David A. Dunnette, EDITOR
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92 | Developed from a symposium sponsored
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American Chemical Society, Washington, DC 1992
In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Science of global change: the impact of human activities on the
environment / David A. Dunnette, editor, Robert J. O'Brien, editor.
p. cm.—(ACS symposium series, ISSN 0097-6156; 483)
"Developed from a symposium sponsored by the Division of
Environmental Chemistry of the American Chemical Society."
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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w ISBN 0-8412-2197-9
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48 1. Pollution—Environmental aspects. 2. Human ecology. 3. Environ
2-0 mental Chemistry—Study and teaching.
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19 I. Dunnette, David Α., 1939- . II. O'Brien, Robert J., 1944-
k- III. American Chemical Society. Division of Environmental Chemistry.
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1/ IV. Series.
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In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
ACS Symposium Series
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In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
Foreword
1HE ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES was founded in 1974 to provide
a medium for publishing symposia quickly in book form. The
format of the Series parallels that of the continuing ADVANCES
IN CHEMISTRY SERIES except that, in order to save time, the
papers are not typeset, but are reproduced as they are submit
01 ted by the authors in camera-ready form. Papers are reviewed
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9 because symposia may embrace both types of presentation.
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bk- However, verbatim reproductions of previously published
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In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
Preface
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (along with other forms of raised conscious
ness) came to national prominence during the 1960s and, with assistance
from the worldwide media, rapidly grew in name recognition. Many col
leges and universities established environmental chemistry, environmental
engineering, and other environmental science programs. In 1963, the
U.S. Congress passed the first Clean Air Act. In 1970, the United States
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00 expanded local and statewide efforts to combat air and water pollution to
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3. the national level by establishing the Environmental Protection Agency
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04 (EPA). The first version of the Clean Water Act passed the U.S.
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9 Congress in 1972. The EPA promulgated national standards for air and
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k- water quality. Significant progress was made in the reduction of emis
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1/ sions of harmful substances into the air and water, both in the United
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10 States and in other developed countries worldwide. Some particularly
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1 insidious environmental contaminants, such as DDT, were banned com
doi: pletely by some countries.
2 | Following national environmental initiatives in the United States and
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1 other industrialized countries, an awareness arose that air and water pol
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y lution problems transcended not only state geographical and political
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u boundaries but also national boundaries. The problem of acid precipita
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Fe tion in the Scandinavian countries is caused partly by emissions from
ate: other countries, and oil spills pollute waters or beaches without regard to
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n the offending vessel's country of registry. However, the potential global
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P ance of the stratosphere. Although the focus of this problem has changed
from the SSTs to the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), significant strato
spheric ozone depletion is now a reality and is expected to worsen into
the next century. In contrast to the CFC problem (whose emissions can
be eliminated) problems of global warming are immensely more difficult
to deal with. Many view global warming as the foremost environmental
issue for the next century. Carbon dioxide, once viewed as a benign emis
sion, is now recognized as a global air pollutant. Add in global deforesta
tion and desertification, problems of feeding the increasing world popula
tion, and so on, and it is clear that humanity must come to grips with its
future.
Our goal in this volume, as editors and chemists, has been to bring
together researchers who could address the major worldwide environ
mental problems, which contain some element of chemistry. Although
ix
In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
chemists like to view chemistry as the central discipline and chemistry
plays an essential role in most of this book's chapters, many of the
authors are not chemists. Biology, geophysics, and other disciplines are
prominent. Biogeochemistry is becoming a catchword for the 1990s. Peo
ple are now aware that (as Mark Twain said) "everything is connected to
everything else". Environmental problems can never again be considered
separately from one another. While enough of the natural world remains
for study, scientists must develop an understanding of its internal inter
connected workings. The chapter authors describe important elements of
these inner workings.
Although we have attempted to include chapters relevant to all major
issues of environmental concern, gaps in coverage occur. These will be
obvious to those whose area is not included and to those with a broad
01 perspective of environmental issues. We hope that these omissions will
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pr not detract too much from the presented material.
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48 The targeted readership for this book is the scientifically literate
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1 scientifically accurate and critically evaluated fashion understandable to
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b those outside their discipline. This is always a very difficult task, and dif
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02 ferent authors took different approaches. Issues of disciplinarity are
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oi: The editorial effort demanded by this book did not seem formidable at
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9 We would not have been able to finish without the dedicated efforts of
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4, several people, including Peg Pankratz, Monica Striker, and Karen
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Dat Portland State University Chemistry Department for support.
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u spective on environmental issues is clearly a global one. We take this
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opportunity to thank Clayton Callis, past ACS president, for his support
of the symposium upon which this book is based, and the Electric Power
Research Institute and the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry for
financial assistance with speakers' travel to that symposium.
Finally, we want to acknowledge individually the reviewers who took
the time to comment on the chapters contained herein. Their comments,
although not always favorable, were invariably useful and often quite
detailed and have in many cases greatly improved the content and clarity
of the chapters. These people, in random order, include the following:
Paul Lioy, William Wilson, David Boone, Ramesh Reddy, John Hardy,
Herman Gucinski, D. E. Ryan, Emmanuel Mendez Palma, Gerald
Akland, Garcia Moreno, Reid Bryson, Curt Covey, Clayton Reitan,
Charles Kolb, David Horn, Thomas Culliney, Aslam Khalil, Thomas
Hard, Wayne Willford, J. R. Vallentyne, Glenn Shaw, John Firor, Mal-
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In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
vern Gilmartin, David Perry, R. J. Paterson, J. M. Bewers, R. Pockling-
ton, Judith Weis, John Disinger, Marat Khabibullov, John Winchester,
Dan Lashof, R. A. Houghton, Jeffrey Weitz, William Becker, Peter
Felker, John Ludwig, Paul Singh, Gregory Patton, Paul Ringold, and P. J.
Dillon.
DAVID A. DUNNETTE
Environmental Sciences and Resources Program
Portland State University
Portland, OR 97207
1 ROBERT J. O'BRIEN
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83. Portland State University
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In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
Chapter 1
Global Environmental Chemistry
The Connections
Brian W. Mar
Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Civil
Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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3. Scientists working to improve the understanding of human impacts
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9 fragmented studies into a global perspective (1,2). The challenge
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10 variables for study and ignore the rest (3). The goal of this paper
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1 is to provide a guide for synthesis of the information presented in
oi: the papers that follow. It is critical that researchers explicitly
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9 temporal and spatial resolution, their specific variables, and the
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4, units they employ. A discussion of the papers in this volume is
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n There is a growing concern that human activities have increased to the level
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population. In response, scientists are accelerating their efforts to
understand global environmental sciences (4). The papers in this volume
focus on environmental chemistry and related disciplines. Each effort can
be viewed as a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that, when completed, may form a
comprehensive view of Global Environmental Chemistry. While the ability
to understand global environmental chemistry may be necessary to
understand the behavior of the global natural environment, it is not
sufficient. Scientists are attempting to piece together jigsaw puzzles of the
chemistry, the geophysics, the biology, and other science disciplines
describing global behavior. Does a puzzle piece resulting from a specific
0097-6156/92/0483-0005S06.00/0
© 1992 American Chemical Society
In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
6 THE SCIENCE OF GLOBAL CHANGE
study fit into the global chemistry puzzle (read model)? How can a piece of
the global chemistry puzzle be tailored to fit into a global geophysics puzzle?
The first step in integration (putting the puzzle pieces together), is to
understand the boundaries, resolution, and focus of each research effort.
These characteristics are the ones that define the size and shape of a puzzle
piece described by a study or subset of knowledge.
Interdisciplinary Issues
Paradigms. Each scientific discipline bounds their domain of study and
selects their level of spatial and temporal resolution. Kuhn (5) introduced
the concept of paradigms of science that form the basic concepts,
assumptions, and goals of a discipline. He observed that the progress of
science is marked by shifts in paradigms. In addition to paradigm shifts by
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4 shift in global environmental studies where disciplinary efforts are giving way
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1 in new disciplines as they mature. How will the discipline of chemistry
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99 nomenclature to establish their identity. Ergo, adoption of a common set of
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4, nomenclature and a common paradigm are difficult tasks for any
ary interdisciplinary team. The basic problem is that training in any discipline
bru provides an individual with a paradigm that establishes what is important and
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ate: can use for communication of their ideas.
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Pu paradigm is the only one to use and that every one must use that
nomenclature and process, major confrontations can arise. If there is a
dominate personality that forces everyone on the team to learn the leaders'
paradigm, language, and process, then a learning period of several years may
be required before the team can be effective. An alternative is to create a
compromise language acceptable to the team, but this can create a
communication barrier between the team and the traditional disciplines.
These paradigm and people problems are not limited to disciplinary
groups (6). Groups in industry and government are interdisciplinary in
composition, since individuals are faced with the option of cooperating or
leaving. This threat does not exist for tenured faculty in the university
setting, which exacerbates interdisciplinary approaches to environmental
problems. Organizational groups in industry and government provide
functional services such as research and development in particular subjects
In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
1. MAR Synthesizing Fragmented Studies into a Global Perspec7ti ve
such as materials, waste handling, unit operations, or service functions.
Service functions may encompass such diverse areas as instrumentation, data
analysis, clinical services, monitoring, and resource management. They
develop their own paradigm, language, and culture. The integration of
interorganizational teams presents the same type of problems encountered
in the management of interdisciplinary teams in the university setting (7).
Temporal and Spatial Resolution. Once the issue of nomenclature is
resolved, the team must select a baseline temporal and spatial resolution.
Scientists studying plate deformations and the behavior of internal earth
processes use time scales of millions and billions of years. Scientists
studying the dynamics at the surface of the earth are concerned with solar
driven processes and use time scales ranging from days to centuries. These
researchers may assume that internal earth processes are static for purposes
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4 withdraw from the team.
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k-1 earth into atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestrial components as shown in
1/b Figure 1, and this is the organizational structure used in this book. Another
02 decomposition strategy used in global environmental studies is to examine
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0. the cycling of the various forms of a chemical element. Carbon, nitrogen,
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99 and sources of interacting forms of the element.
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4, In the past, disciplinary researchers have bounded their study area in
ary space and time and assumed that their interfaces with the other disciplines
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activities could alter the global environment. For example, scientists
investigating the atmosphere and the oceans study circulation and
temperatures. Only in the last few decades have they joined forces to study
the interfaces and dynamics of the fluxes between the atmosphere and the
oceans. Terrestrial scientists studying productivity, nutrient cycling, and
biome extent at local and regional scales, tend to assume that atmospheric
and oceanic systems are givens or that the processes that they study do not
impact the global environment. Even the study of water has been
decomposed into many disciplinary efforts such as hydrology, oceanography,
geochemistry, limnology, or civil and environmental engineering. There is
not a single discipline that synthesizes the knowledge-base associated with
water. The fragmentation of science and the creation of many specialty
disciplines to cope with the complex and massive knowledge base generated
In The Science of Global Change; Dunnette, D., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
