Sunlight woes
Researchers in the us have found out that the nitrate in snow interacts with sunlight and sets off a very rapid series of photochemical reactions, producing oxides of nitrogen (no x ). "We found very high concentrations of no x in the snow of areas which are beyond the reach of pollution,' says Jack Dibb, research associate professor from the University of New Hampshire. According to Dibb, his team discovered no x concentrations of 500-600 particles per trillion in snow that was 10 centimetres deep in Southern Greenland, an area which is said to be almost free of pollution. "Prior to this research, scientists believed that pollution resulted in very high levels of nox. They also assumed that no x levels were zero in remote areas, as they are far from any pollution centres,' Dibb says. But now they have been proved wrong. The researchers from the University of New Hampshire and Michigan Technological University will continue to research in Antarctica to find more information on the subject.