Novakov

Recent studies of black carbon particles in the atmosphere have revealed that they play a larger role than previously thought in the global climate. In today’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a paper by NASA’s Makiko Sato and James Hansen and Berkeley Lab’s Tihomir Novakov concludes that the amount of sunlight absorbed by soot was two to four times larger than usually assumed. Full story. Another paper by a team that includes Novakov, Thomas Kirchstetter, Jonathan Sinton and Jayant Sathaye of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division found that variations in atmospheric soot -- generated by traffic, pollution, wood and coal burning, and fires -- have affected global temperatures since the late 1800s. Read the paper here.

Another One
Bites The Dust
By Roy Berendsohn

Mills

For years, we’ve been telling people to clean the condenser coils on their refrigerators. It makes sense, we’ve said, because the dust acts as insulation and reduces airflow over the coils. Clean the coils and you are contributing to a more thermally efficient and more energy-efficient appliance. Nice try. A recent issue of Home Energy magazine debunks this long-cherished belief and a few others. Berkeley Lab’s Evan Mills reports in an article entitled "Common Energy Myths" that "small savings may indeed arise, [but that] efforts to actually measure this effect have typically come up empty-handed." Full story.

Keeping Anti-Virus
Software Up to Date

Although Berkeley Lab has a highly effective virus wall, not all mail goes through the virus wall for "disinfecting." It is important, therefore, to keep a system's anti-virus software up to date for both PC’s and Macintosh users. Send an e-mail to [email protected] for more information.