NASA Scientist Speaks at Thomas Nelson for Earth Day

Air pollution in the United States impacts human health,
costs American farmers billions of dollars annually in crop loss and reduced
productivity, and decreases the vitality of U.S. forests especially in the
east.

Dr. Jack Fishman, a senior research scientist in the Science Directorate at
NASA’s Langley Research Center, will speak at Thomas Nelson Community
College at 7 p.m. on April 21, 2009, as part of NASA’s weeklong celebration
of Earth Day. Sponsored by the Chemistry Department, Fishman’s talk will be
in the Espada Conference Center of the Hampton campus. It is free and open
to the public.

Entitled “Satellite Observations of Air Pollution: Local Impacts Seen from a
Global Perspective,” the talk will focus on how NASA scientists have used
satellite measurements to observe and understand the complex interaction
between local sources of pollution and how the Earth’s atmosphere has been
modified on a global scale.

Since the 1970s, scientists and engineers at NASA Langley have been in the
forefront of measuring air pollution from space. They are developing the
next generation of instruments to better understand the mechanisms that lead
to widespread air pollution episodes and to better forecast the impact of
such events.

Fishman has been a research scientist for 35 years studying the composition
of the troposphere and developing computer models that provide insight into
the processes controlling atmospheric chemistry. For the past two decades,
he has been a pioneer in the use of existing satellites to study global
pollution. Fishman is currently working toward the development of NASA’s
next generation satellites devoted to measuring air pollution.

At NASA Langley, Science Directorate researchers are working to find answers
to questions that affect the health of the planet and the people on it. For
more information:
http://science.larc.nasa.gov/
www.nasa.gov/earthday”>www.nasa.gov/earthday