Bark beetle may affect air quality, climate

Tim Crosby in the Saluki Times at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale: If you’ve traveled to a forested national park out West in recent years, you may have noticed two things. First, a growing number of lodgepole pine trees are dying, victims of the bark beetle.  And secondly, atmospheric haze, caused in part by tiny solid particles suspended in the air, is becoming a problem.

A study by a researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale shows these two phenomena may be related, tied together by chemistry and climate change factors. Kara Huff Hartz, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the College of Science, has authored a study appearing today (May 23) in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a division of the American Chemical Society. The study, which Huff Hartz conducted by collecting gas specimens from bark beetle-infested and non-infested lodgepole pines, shows a large increase in the gases given off by the beetle infestations, which could enhance airborne particulate matter problems and haze in the area.

The findings will bring better understanding to atmospheric maladies such as particulate matter, which can cause health problems in the very young and old, as well as other problems. It also may provide a window into understanding the links between climate change and environmental inputs such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which come from both natural and anthropogenic sources.

...Airborne particulate matter is a well-known health hazard that involves solids smaller in diameter than a human hair suspended in the atmosphere where they can be inhaled. Depending on the type, concentration and location, particulate matter can also impact climate by causing haze, preventing rain or leading to cooling, Huff Hartz said....

A bark beetle gallery in a pine tree, shot by L. Shyamal, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license