Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia
Over recent decades oil palm plantations have rapidly expanded across Southeast Asia (SEA). According to the United Nations, oil palm production in SEA increased by a factor of 3 from 1995 to 2010. We investigate the impacts of current (2010) and near-term future (2020) projected oil palm expansion...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Copernicus GmbH
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110355 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6343-8382 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2894-5738 |
| _version_ | 1811080655729065984 |
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| author | Geddes, Jeffrey A. Austin, Kemen G. Kasibhatla, Prasad S. Marlier, Miriam E. Silva, Sam James Heald, Colette L. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Geddes, Jeffrey A. Austin, Kemen G. Kasibhatla, Prasad S. Marlier, Miriam E. Silva, Sam James Heald, Colette L. |
| author_sort | Geddes, Jeffrey A. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Over recent decades oil palm plantations have rapidly expanded across Southeast Asia (SEA). According to the United Nations, oil palm production in SEA increased by a factor of 3 from 1995 to 2010. We investigate the impacts of current (2010) and near-term future (2020) projected oil palm expansion in SEA on surface–atmosphere exchange and the resulting air quality in the region. For this purpose, we use satellite data, high-resolution land maps, and the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem. Relative to a no oil palm plantation scenario (∼ 1990), overall simulated isoprene emissions in the region increased by 13 % due to oil palm plantations in 2010 and a further 11 % in the near-term future. In addition, the expansion of palm plantations leads to local increases in ozone deposition velocities of up to 20 %. The net result of these changes is that oil palm expansion in SEA increases surface O₃ by up to 3.5 ppbv over dense urban regions, and in the near-term future could rise more than 4.5 ppbv above baseline levels. Biogenic secondary organic aerosol loadings also increase by up to 1 µg m⁻³ due to oil palm expansion, and could increase by a further 2.5 µg m⁻³ in the near-term future. Our analysis indicates that while the impact of recent oil palm expansion on air quality in the region has been significant, the retrieval error and sensitivity of the current constellation of satellite measurements limit our ability to observe these impacts from space. Oil palm expansion is likely to continue to degrade air quality in the region in the coming decade and hinder efforts to achieve air quality regulations in major urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:34:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/110355 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:34:44Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Copernicus GmbH |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1103552022-09-27T20:29:08Z Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia Geddes, Jeffrey A. Austin, Kemen G. Kasibhatla, Prasad S. Marlier, Miriam E. Silva, Sam James Heald, Colette L. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Silva, Sam James Heald, Colette L. Over recent decades oil palm plantations have rapidly expanded across Southeast Asia (SEA). According to the United Nations, oil palm production in SEA increased by a factor of 3 from 1995 to 2010. We investigate the impacts of current (2010) and near-term future (2020) projected oil palm expansion in SEA on surface–atmosphere exchange and the resulting air quality in the region. For this purpose, we use satellite data, high-resolution land maps, and the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem. Relative to a no oil palm plantation scenario (∼ 1990), overall simulated isoprene emissions in the region increased by 13 % due to oil palm plantations in 2010 and a further 11 % in the near-term future. In addition, the expansion of palm plantations leads to local increases in ozone deposition velocities of up to 20 %. The net result of these changes is that oil palm expansion in SEA increases surface O₃ by up to 3.5 ppbv over dense urban regions, and in the near-term future could rise more than 4.5 ppbv above baseline levels. Biogenic secondary organic aerosol loadings also increase by up to 1 µg m⁻³ due to oil palm expansion, and could increase by a further 2.5 µg m⁻³ in the near-term future. Our analysis indicates that while the impact of recent oil palm expansion on air quality in the region has been significant, the retrieval error and sensitivity of the current constellation of satellite measurements limit our ability to observe these impacts from space. Oil palm expansion is likely to continue to degrade air quality in the region in the coming decade and hinder efforts to achieve air quality regulations in major urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (AGS- 1238109) 2017-06-28T18:20:31Z 2017-06-28T18:20:31Z 2016-08 2016-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1680-7324 1680-7316 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110355 Silva, Sam J.; Heald, Colette L.; Geddes, Jeffrey A.; Austin, Kemen G.; Kasibhatla, Prasad S. and Marlier, Miriam E. “Impacts of Current and Projected Oil Palm Plantation Expansion on Air Quality over Southeast Asia.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16, no. 16 (August 2016): 10621–10635 © 2016 Author(s) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6343-8382 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2894-5738 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10621-2016 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ application/pdf Copernicus GmbH Copernicus Publications |
| spellingShingle | Geddes, Jeffrey A. Austin, Kemen G. Kasibhatla, Prasad S. Marlier, Miriam E. Silva, Sam James Heald, Colette L. Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia |
| title | Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia |
| title_full | Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia |
| title_short | Impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over Southeast Asia |
| title_sort | impacts of current and projected oil palm plantation expansion on air quality over southeast asia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110355 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6343-8382 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2894-5738 |
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