Biomass burning emits large amounts of trace gases and particles into the atmosphere, influencing climate, precipitation patterns, and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem health.  Biomass burning emissions often undergo long-range transport and can persist in the atmosphere for weeks.

College students, take note: There are at least six fields of study whose graduates are virtually 100 percent employed right now. That's right--certain majors, such as pharmacology, produce graduates who face a zero percent unemployment rate.

That's not bad considering last month's joblessness rate for people with a college degree or higher was 4.4 percent.

Part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, UC Irvine
University Club
Fall Forum 2011

Charlie Zender, Ph.D. Prof., Atmospheric Physics, UCI

Dr. Zender will describe the relative health hazards of the background and wind-transported radioactivity, i.e. from Fukushima, Japan, and the relative merits of wind vs. nuclear power.