Pollution effects of wildfires drift
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Large wildfires burning across western and central Russia, eastern Siberia and western Canada had created a noxious soup of air pollution that was affecting life far beyond national borders, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said Wednesday.
That soup included carbon monoxide, an ingredient in the production of ground-level ozone, which causes numerous respiratory problems. As the carbon monoxide from the wildfires rose into the atmosphere, it was caught in the lower bounds of the mid-latitude jet stream, which swiftly transported it around the globe, the JPL said.
Also on Wednesday, NASA posted two movies on its global climate change website to show three-day running averages of daily measurements of carbon monoxide present at an altitude of 5.5 km (18,000 feet), along with its global transport.
NASA created the movies, using continuously updated data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. AIRS is most sensitive to carbon monoxide at this altitude, which is a region conducive to long-range transport of the smoke. The abundance of carbon monoxide is shown in parts per billion, with the highest concentrations shown in yellows and reds.
The first movie, centered on Moscow, highlights the series of wildfires that continue to burn across Russia. It covers the period from July 18 to Aug. 10.
The second movie is centered on the North Pole and covers the period from July 16 to Aug. 10. From this vantage point, the long-range transport of pollutants is more easily seen.
AIRS is managed by JPL, headquartered in Pasadena near Los Angeles under a contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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