Anthropic-Induced Variability of Greenhouse Gasses and Aerosols at the WMO/GAW Coastal Site of Lamezia Terme (Calabria, Southern Italy): Towards a New Method to Assess the Weekly Distribution of Gathered Data

Francesco D’Amico (), Ivano Ammoscato, Daniel Gullì, Elenio Avolio, Teresa Lo Feudo, Mariafrancesca De Pino, Paolo Cristofanelli, Luana Malacaria, Domenico Parise, Salvatore Sinopoli, Giorgia De Benedetto and Claudia Roberta Calidonna ()
Additional contact information
Francesco D’Amico: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Ivano Ammoscato: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Daniel Gullì: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Elenio Avolio: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Teresa Lo Feudo: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Mariafrancesca De Pino: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Paolo Cristofanelli: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Bologna), Via P. Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
Luana Malacaria: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Domenico Parise: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Salvatore Sinopoli: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Giorgia De Benedetto: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy
Claudia Roberta Calidonna: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council of Italy (ISAC Lamezia), Area Industriale Comp. 15, Lamezia Terme, I-88046 Catanzaro, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-31

Abstract: The key to a sustainable future is the reduction in humankind’s impact on natural systems via the development of new technologies and the improvement in source apportionment. Although days, years and seasons are arbitrarily set, their mechanisms are based on natural cycles driven by Earth’s orbital periods. This is not the case for weeks, which are a pure anthropic category and are known from the literature to influence emission cycles and atmospheric chemistry. For the first time since it started data gathering operations, CO (carbon monoxide), CO 2 (carbon dioxide), CH 4 (methane) and eBC (equivalent black carbon) values detected by the Lamezia Terme WMO/GAW station in Calabria, Southern Italy, have been evaluated via a two-pronged approach accounting for weekly variations in absolute concentrations, as well as the number of hourly averages exceeding select thresholds. The analyses were performed on seven continuous years of measurements from 2016 to 2022. The results demonstrate that the analyzed GHGs (greenhouse gasses) and aerosols respond differently to weekly cycles throughout the seasons, and these findings provide completely new insights into source apportionment characterization. Moreover, the results have been combined into a new parameter: the hereby defined WDWO (Weighed Distribution of Weekly Outbreaks) normalizes weekly trends in CO, CO 2 , CH 4 and eBC on an absolute scale, with the scope of providing regulators and researchers alike with a new tool meant to better evaluate anthropogenic pollution and mitigate its effects on the environment and human health.

Keywords: Lamezia Terme; GAW; sustainability; weekly cycles; anthropic activity; carbon monoxide; carbon dioxide; methane; black carbon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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