Smoke from wildfires found to warm atmosphere
Smoke in the sky from a wildfire in California. (stacyjclinton)
Aerosols from fossil fuel combustion, wildfires, desert dust, and the sea can affect climate.
We spoke with atmospheric chemist Phil Russell of NASA’s Ames Research Center. Russell and his science team made 19 flights with aircraft equipped to measure the solar energy getting through aerosols high in the atmosphere. Early flight runs off the coast of New England encountered smoke particles from summer forest fires in Alaska and Canada.
Philip Russell: The particles were reducing the solar energy at the surface by about 40 watts per square meter. And that’s quite a large amount.
Russell said that the smoke particles absorbed more sunlight than they reflected, and warmed the atmosphere.
Philip Russell: If you compare that to the warming caused by greenhouse gases, averaged all over the Earth, and averaged over night and day, the greenhouse gas warming is on the order of two or three watts per square meter. So, the amount that we observed, when these aerosol particles were present, including the smoke particles, was large compared to the greenhouse warming. At least locally it was large.
Russell added that real climate measurements are important to reduce uncertainties in climate models.
Our thanks today to NASA: explore, discover, understand.
Our thanks to:
Dr. Philip B. Russell
Research Scientist
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, California
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