Origin and development of Chinese-Norwegian
research on acid rain - A personal account
Hans Martin Seip
Professor emeritus
Dept. of Chemistry
University of Oslo
24 August 2015
From my first visit to China, Guiyang 1991
Coal is a major source of air pollution and GHG
emissions in China
• Stone age people in northeastern
China were using coal 6000 years
ago. The early Chinese valued coal
not because it could help them
survive the bitter winters but
because they thought it was pretty.
• Also, regarding environmental
problems, China was first. A
Chinese text from 120 BC
already complains about
deforestation caused by
metallurgy, a problem the
English wouldn’t complain of
until the seventeenth century.
Important reasons for studying acid rain and air
pollution in China
From the Guardian, Oct
2014
• Very serious effects expected in
China.
• We had gained much experience
during the project “Acid Rain –
Effects on Forests and Fish” and
other projects.
• How China solves its environmental
challenges has large regional and
global effects due to its size and
function as role model.
However, funding was difficult in the beginning
Lecture at Tsinghua
•
Academic Presentation
– Topic: Vital Environmental Issues
of Global Concern
– Presenter: Prof. H.M.Seip,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Oslo, Norway
– Time: 9:00am, 16 September,
1991
– Location: 2nd auditorium
– Looking forward to your
presence there!
SO2 emissions – globally and in
China 1990 - 2011
Some decrease from 2011 to 2014 in China
Cooperation with China on acid
precipitation
• Started in 1988 (Zhao Dianwu, Research Center for EcoEnvironmental Sciences, CAS).
• Field studies near Guiyang and Chongqing
–
–
–
–
Deposition
Soil water
Stream water
Soil
• PIAC 1997 (Planning of an Integrated Acidification
Study and Survey on Acid Rain Impacts in China).
• IMPACTS 1999
IMPACTS: Integrated Monitoring Programme
on Acidification of Chinese Terrestrial Systems.
• From 1999 to 2004
• Funded by NORAD and with some support from
China.
• Chinese overall responsibility : SEPA (State
Environmental Pollution Administration)
• Project leadership:
– NIVA (Espen Lydersen, Thorjørn Larssen)
– CRAES (Chinese Reseach Academy for Environmental
Science)
• Norwegian participating institustions: NIVA, NILU,
Skogforsk, NIJOS, UiO, UMB, NUPI.
Integrated, interdisciplinary environmental
monitoring in 5 acid sensitive catchments.
TSP,
ChongQing
鹿冲关
LCG, Guizhou
铁山坪
CJT, Hunan
蔡家塘
LXH,
GuangDong
雷公山
LGS, Guizhou
流溪河
Some early papers from the Sino-Norwegian
co-operation
• ZHAO DIANWU and Hans Martin Seip, ASSESSING EFFECTS OF ACID
DEPOSITION IN SOUTHWESTERN CHINA USING THE MAGIC MODEL.
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 60: 83-97, 1991.
• ZHAO DAWEI, HANS M. SEIP, ZHAO DIANWU, and ZHANG DONGBAO,
PATTERN AND CAUSE OF ACIDIC DEPOSITION IN THE CHONGQING
REGION, SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA, Water, Air and Soil Pollution 77: 2748, 1994.
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 130: 1073–1078, 2001, presented at the
“Acid Rain 2000” meeting in Japan.
Summary of IMPACTS:
Acid rain in China, 2006
• Thorjørn Larssen; Espen Lydersen;
Dagang Tang; Yi He; Jixi Gao; Haiying Liu;
Hans M. Seip; Rolf D. Vogt; Jan Mulder;
Min Shao; Yanhui Wang; He Shang;
Xiaoshan Zhang; Svein Solberg; Wenche
Aas; Tonje Økland; Odd Eilertsen; Valter
Angell; Quanru Liu; Dawei Zhao; Renjun
Xiang; Jinshong Xiao; Jiahai Luo
Annual S-deposition
Some important IMPACTS’ results
• The S-deposition may be at least as large as in «the black
triangle» in Europe around 1980.
• The Ca-deposition is high. A substantial part of this is
likely human-made. These emissions cause health
damage and should be reduced, but the precipitation will
then become more acid.
• The ammonium deposition is high - especially in TSP
(Chongqing) and CJT (Hunan) – neutralizes the
precipitation, but causes soil acidification.
• Forest damage in TSP – insects are likely the direct cause
– and (possibly) in LCG (Guiyang).
• Acidification of freshwater is probably not a large-scale
problem in China.
Work on Chinese environmental problems
continues
• Many good relationships were established during
IMPACTS. Several of the Chinese participants have
important roles in Chinese environmental policy and
research.
• Rolf D. Vogt (acidification, forests, eutrophication)
• Thorjørn Larssen (soil acidification, metals –
especially mercury)
• Jan Mulder (Forests, soils, nitrogen)
• Kristin Aunan (Health effects, Climate - especially cobenefits)
Gross domestic product or pollution reduction.
What is most important?