Joint Committee "Chemistry, Air Quality, Climate" of ProcessNet/GDCh/DBG

The joint committee "Chemistry, Air Quality and Climate" (GA-CLK) sees itself as an expert group for chemical and chemical-technical aspects of atmospheric chemistry chemistry, air quality and climate change. In connection with scientific issues and environmental policy and regulatory measures, the committee pursues the following goals:

 

• Discussion and evaluation of the status of research and development in specific subject areas of CLK
• Identification of knowledge deficits and any need for action
• Initiating R&D initiatives to address deficiencies
• Development of statements on regulatory measures on CLK topics

The working committee is interdisciplinary; however, there is a focus on atmospheric sciences. He does not conduct research himself, but rather discusses and evaluates research. Its members come from university institutes and other research institutions, from environmental authorities and from industry. The chair is currently Prof. Dr. Peter Wiesen (Wuppertal). The working committee bundles the expertise and interests of several scientific societies (ProcessNet, GDCh and DBG) and is therefore integrative and should not be seen as competing with other bodies of these societies. A special concern of the committee is the processing of topics that are of social and/or industrial importance. The core of the work is the close integration of basic and applied research. The purely academic interest is not in the foreground.

The working committee currently has several main topics that are being worked on in parallel. These include, among other things:

1. atmospheric chemistry and climate
atmospheric chemistry in its entirety and special aspects of its development in the context of climate change and protection were the core issues when the working committee was set up and still determine a significant part of its professional orientation today. The main focus is on the chemical aspects.

2. Urban air quality
In the European Union, air quality is determined by limit or guideline values set in laws or regulations. New scientific findings may require a reassessment and changes to the basis of assessment. Many guideline and limit values relate exclusively to specific problems such as vegetation protection, the risk of cancer in humans or an official framework for action for the application of certain measures.

3. Semi-volatile organic compounds
In contrast to the chemistry in water, soil and air, the science of those substances that move back and forth between the environmental media (so-called multi-compartment substances) still has a lot of catching up to do. Research on the distribution and fate of semi-volatile and at the same time persistent (ie poorly degradable) organic substances is particularly complex because these can complete multiple cycles through the atmosphere ('grasshopper effect').