A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
News Topics
Fire Research
2016 - 2026
NOAA and CIRES researchers have led efforts to better understand the atmospheric implications of biomass burning and forest fires. Our scientists conducted air quality studies and made observations during multiple prescribed and wildfire occurrences, and field campaigns during wildfire season in the western U.S. These efforts have resulted in scientific findings related to ozone pollution and other air quality challenges, as well as stratospheric aerosol resulting in changes in weather. CSL researchers have published or contributed to peer-reviewed science papers on these topics:
Chace, W.S., C. Womack, A. Ahern, K. Ball, K.H. Bates, B. Bohn, C.A. Brock, M. Coggon, J.D. Crounse, N. Desai, H. Fuchs, J. Gilman, J. Gristey, H.N. Huynh, R. Jackson, C.M. Jernigan, J. Kaiser, M. Lin, M. Lyu, A. Middlebrook, G.A. Novak, A. Novelli, J. Peischl, A. Piasecki, M.A. Robinson, A. Rollins, N.B. Schafer, M. Selby, C. Senff, A. Stainsby, C.E. Stockwell, S.J. Taylor, S. Thakali, V. Treadaway, P.R. Veres, C. Warneke, E. Waxman, P.O. Wennberg, G.M. Wolfe, L. Xu, K. Zuraski, and S.S. Brown, The influence of aged smoke on urban ozone: Aircraft measurements in Chicago during the 2023 Canadian wildfires, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2026JD047060, 2026. Ground-level ozone pollution, which continues to endanger human health in cities across the United States, is challenging to mitigate because of the nonlinear dependence of ozone photochemistry on nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compound (VOC) precursors. While urban precursor emissions are often the dominant source of ozone in cities, the influence of wildfire smoke on urban ozone is increasing as severe wildfires become more frequent in North America due to climate change and a history of fire suppression. We analyzed three different effects that wildfire smoke may have on urban ozone: a direct increase in boundary layer ozone from the entrainment of ozone from the smoke plume; an increase in locally-produced ozone resulting from the interactions between smoke VOCs and urban NOx; and a decrease in locally-produced ozone due to aerosols in the smoke plume reducing the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface. A chemical box model and a radiative transfer model, constrained with aircraft-based trace gas and aerosol measurements, allowed us to disentangle these three effects on urban ozone for a day in Chicago that was impacted by aged smoke from historic 2023 Canadian wildfires.
Lill, E., M. Shogrin, K. Corwin, I. Pollack, A. Middlebrook, A. Piasecki, N. Schafer, J. Peischl, C. Stockwell, M. Coggon, K. Bates, C. Warneke, O. Cooper, and E.V. Fischer, Canadian wildfire smoke impacts on reduced nitrogen in the upper midwest: Insights from the 2023 fire season, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2025GL120793, 2026. Wildfires release large amounts of ammonia gas into the atmosphere. This gas can turn into tiny particles that fall back to the ground through precipitation. These processes affect both air quality and ecosystems, but scientists have not had a clear picture of how much wildfires contribute. We studied the record-breaking Canadian wildfires of 2023 to understand their effects in the United States. We combined data from satellites, ground-based monitors, and measurements from research aircraft. We also examined more than a decade of smoke data to place the 2023 fires within a broader context. We found that during May and June 2023, ammonia levels rose at most monitoring sites across the country. Ammonium, measured in precipitation, also increased, especially in the Upper Midwest. Satellite images confirmed higher ammonia in many areas, and aircraft flying through smoke plumes detected high concentrations of ammonia. These results show that wildfire smoke can increase ammonia and ammonium concentrations over large regions. This is important for air quality, ecosystem pollution, and how scientists build models to predict future impacts.
Peng, Y., O.B. Toon, W. Randel, X. Wang, K. Qie, W. Tian, S.M. Davis, K.H. Rosenlof, and P. Yu, Moderate volcanic eruptions and extreme wildfires humidify the stratosphere, Nature, doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10731-0, 2026. Stratospheric water vapor is a key greenhouse gas that influences both global climate and stratospheric chemistry. Observations show a notable increase in stratospheric water vapor since 2005, coinciding with frequent moderate volcanic eruptions and extreme wildfire events. This paper uses satellite observations and a chemistry climate model to quantify the effects of wildfires and volcanoes on stratospheric water vapor. The study finds a roughly equal contribution between surface temperature warming and wildfires/volcanoes to the recent changes in stratospheric water vapor.
Pichugina, Y.L., E.J. Strobach, A.W. Brewer, R. Ahmadov, P.S. Bhattacharjee, E.P. James, A.J. Schnell, B. Carroll, S. Baidar, and S. Sandberg, Analysis of smoke transport over the northeast US caused by wildfires in Canada during June 2023 - Leveraging the HRRR-Smoke model predictions and remote sensing observations, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2025JD044799, 2026. Wildfires in Canada during June 2023 caused substantial smoke transport into the northeastern United States and significantly degraded air quality in Washington D.C. on June 8th, 2023. This paper investigates the large-scale synoptic and regional conditions that led to enhanced smoke and reduced visibility in Washington D.C. by leveraging various observations and the HRRR-Smoke model. The network of ceilometers and wind measurements from a Doppler Lidar in Washington, D.C., are used to document smoke advection into the region and changes in the dynamic structure of the lower atmosphere. The accuracy of wind forecasts from the operational HRRR-Smoke model is evaluated by lidar measurements. The predicted smoke properties are compared to PM2.5 observations from four air quality monitors in the Washington D.C. area. Confidence in modeled winds and PM2.5 allowed the HRRR-Smoke model to be used to analyze the regional transport responsible for smoke inundation in the D.C. area, which was determined to be a result of recirculation from a lee trough that developed in response to strong cross-mountain flows.
Ahern, A.T., C.A. Brock, M. Lyu, K. Slovacek, R.H. Moore, and D.M. Murphy, Direct measurements and implications of the aerosol asymmetry parameter in wildfire smoke during FIREX-AQ, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2024JD042091, 2025. Smoke from wildfires affects how much sunlight is absorbed by the planet and its atmosphere by scattering some of that light into space. Usually, which direction the light scatters (into space vs. towards Earth) is based on models or inferred from indirect measurements of the smoke optical properties. We measured the direction of the light scattering directly, and show that more light is scattered into space than is typically thought.
Carroll, B.J., E. Strobach, S. Baidar, M.W. Holloway, B. McCarty, R. Marchbanks, and W.A. Brewer, Wildfire smoke shading observations: Impacts on boundary layer mixing and thermally driven smoke transport, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2024JD043303, 2025. Visibly thick wildfire smoke blocks sunlight from reaching the ground. This results in cooler temperatures in smoke-shaded areas. These cooler temperatures contribute to trapping smoke from active or smoldering fires, especially in valleys. Smoke shading impacts on local weather patterns have only been observed a few times in past research, and this study uses state-of-the-art measurements from a moving truck to provide new insights. The smoke shading modified the lowest layers of the atmosphere, and caused flow patterns that transported the dangerously high concentrations of smoke away from the fire.
Chen, J.-H., U. Puttu, H.N. Huynh, A.T. Ahern, K. Ball, K.H. Bates, C.A. Brock, T. Campos, M.M. Coggon, J.D. Crounse, J. de Gouw, J.P. DiGangi, G.S. Diskin, G.I. Gkatzelis, H.S. Halliday, L. Hu, A.R. Koss, Y. Li, M. Lyu, G. Michailoudi, S.M. Murphy, J.B. Nowak, B.B. Palm, J. Peischl, W. Permar, A.E. Perring, R.P. Pokhrel, N.B. Schafer, J.P. Schwarz, K. Sekimoto, V. Selimovic, C.E. Stockwell, A.P. Sullivan, J.A. Thornton, N.L. Wagner, S. Wang, C. Warneke, P.O. Wennberg, L. Zeng, R.J. Yokelson, R.J. Weber, and L. Xu, Atmospheric evolution of brown carbon from wildfires in North America, Environmental Science & Technology, doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c09020, 2025. The manuscript presents an analysis of brown-carbon absorption as a function of time since emission from fires based on a lot of direct measurments to provide a high-confidence picture of its evolution.
June, N.A., E.B. Wiggins, E.L. Winstead, C.E. Robinson, K.L. Thornhill, K.J. Sanchez, R.H. Moore, D. Pagonis, H. Guo, P. Campuzano-Jost, J.L. Jimenez, T. Shingler, M.M. Coggon, J. Peischl, A. Dayalu, M. Mountain, S.H. Jathar, M.J. Alvarado, and J.R. Pierce, Look within: Intraplume differences on smoke aerosol aging driven by concentration gradients, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2024JD042359, 2025. Wildfires are an important source of aerosol particles to the atmosphere. These aerosol particles are important for climate and human health. A 2019 field campaign flew an aircraft through wildfire smoke plumes in the western United States to take measurements of gasses and aerosol particles in the plume. We use these measurements and a high-resolution model to study the fine scale details of the evolution of the aerosol particles in the plume. In our case study, we find that there are differences in the evolution within the plume as a function of height due to temperature and concentration effects in the plume. These fine scale details have implications for large-scale air quality and climate models, which cannot resolve these plumes explicitly.
Strobach, E., S. Baidar, B. Carroll, and A. Brewer, The 3D dynamics of a wildfire plume extending across the top of the planetary boundary layer using an airborne Doppler lidar, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2024GL113068, 2025. As wildfires gets more prevalent and more intense over the years, there is an increasing need to better simulate and predict wildfire behaviors. However, modelling the smaller scale dynamics related to wildfire dynamics and behavior remain a challenge. Airborne Doppler lidar measurements from small aircraft like the Twin Otter provide a unique insight into wildfire dynamics, and help evaluate and improve parameterization in models. In this study, airborne Doppler lidar vertical velocity and horizontal wind profile measurements over the 163 HK Complex fire during FIREX-AQ study are used to examine wildfire plume dynamics properties like vorticity and divergence, and fire modified winds.
Tang, W., L.K. Emmons, C. Wiedinmyer, D.B. Partha, Y. Huang, C. He, J. Zhang, K.C. Barsanti, B. Gaubert, D. Jo, J. Zhang, R. Buchholz, S. Tilmes, F. Vitt, C. Granier, H.M. Worden, and P.F. Levelt, Disproportionately large impacts of wildland-urban interface fire emissions on global air quality and human health, Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.adr2616, 2025. Fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are a global issue with growing importance. However, the impact of WUI fires on air quality and health is less understood compared to that of fires in wildland. We analyze WUI fire impacts on air quality and health at the global scale using a multi-scale atmospheric chemistry model—the Multi-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols model (MUSICA). WUI fires have notable impacts on key air pollutants [e.g., carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and ozone (O3)]. The health impact of WUI fire emission is disproportionately large compared to wildland fires primarily because WUI fires are closer to human settlement. Globally, the fraction of WUI fire–caused annual premature deaths (APDs) to all fire–caused APDs is about three times of the fraction of WUI fire emissions to all fire emissions. The developed model framework can be applied to address critical needs in understanding and mitigating WUI fires and their impacts.
Wang, X., R.K. Chakrabarty, J.P. Schwarz, S.M. Murphy, E.J.T. Levin, S.G. Howell, H. Guo, P. Campuzano-Jost, and J.L. Jimenez, Dark brown carbon from biomass burning contributes to significant global-scale positive forcing, One Earth, doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101205, 2025. Light-absorbing organic aerosol, known as brown carbon (BrC), is a warming agent affecting global climate. Recent evidence reveals that wildfires and agricultural burning emit a distinct class of material, dark BrC (d-BrC), with significant visible and near-infrared absorption not yet evaluated in climate models. Here, we present a global model simulation showing that d-BrC contributes a substantial radiative effect via its solar radiation absorption, comparable to black carbon and far exceeding traditional BrC estimates. Comparisons against aircraft measurements suggest that inclusion of d-BrC resolves some discrepancies between simulated and observed aerosol absorption unexplained by uncertainties in other aerosols. Findings identify d-BrC as a critical climate forcer and highlight the importance of incorporating d-BrC into models to accurately assess climate impacts of aerosols and fires.
Carroll, B.J., W.A. Brewer, E. Strobach, N. Lareau, S.S. Brown, M.M. Valero, A. Kochanski, C.B. Clements, R. Kahn, K.T. Junghenn Noyes, A. Makowiecki, M.W. Holloway, M. Zucker, K. Clough, J. Drucker, K. Zuraski, J. Peischl, B. McCarty, R. Marchbanks, S. Sandberg, S. Baidar, Y.L. Pichugina, R.M. Banta, A. Klofas, B. Winters, and T. Salas, Measuring coupled fire-atmosphere dynamics: The California Fire Dynamics Experiment (CalFiDE), Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0012.1, 2024. Wildfires are deeply impactful events with a broad range of social, economic, and environmental consequences. Fires pose major threats to health and property, and the emitted smoke often has harmful air quality impacts both locally and across continents. This creates a need for accurate fire forecast models that couple to standard weather forecasting models, but verifying the accuracy of these models with measurements is difficult due to the safety and logistics challenges of making measurements near active wildfires. CalFiDE was designed to make such challenging measurements. Scientists measured fire behavior and the related winds and smoke emissions at five wildfires in California and Oregon in 2022. Instruments were installed on a research airplane and multiple trucks to quickly deploy to wildfires. Infrared cameras on the airplane captured the fire shape and intensity at each pass of the airplane over the fire, alongside a Doppler lidar that measured winds from a distance to capture the strong updraft over the fire as well as mixing motions of smoke with cleaner air, and the ambient wind conditions. Monitoring the evolution of these coupled fire-atmosphere processes was a major goal of CalFiDE. Chemical measurements were also used to study the smoke emitted from the fires, helping understand the changes that occur between the fire and poor air quality downwind. Another Doppler lidar on a truck observed smoke trapped near the surface in valleys, which reached dangerous concentrations under stagnant conditions before being cleared out by stronger winds. CalFiDE provided an unprecedented dataset to improve our understanding and forecasting of wildfires and their interactions with the atmosphere. Read More
Cooper, O. R., K.-L. Chang, K. Bates, S. S. Brown, W. S. Chace, M. Coggon, A. M. Gorchov Negron, , A. M. Middlebrook, J. Peischl, A. Piasecki, N. Schafer, C. E. Stockwell, S. Wang, C. Warneke, K. Zuraski. K. Miyazaki, V. H. Payne, E. A. Pennington, J. R. Worden, K. W. Bowman and B. C. McDonald, Early season 2023 wildfires generated record-breaking surface ozone anomalies across the U.S. upper midwest, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2024GL111481, 2024. During summer 2023 Canada experienced its most intense wildfire season on record. Smoke plumes from these fires advected across the United States (U.S.) Upper Midwest, producing regional scale surface enhancements of PM2.5 and ozone, as recorded by the U.S. surface monitoring network. These events are notable because they occurred early in the fire season (May 15-June 30), and they produced the highest regional-scale surface ozone levels ever recorded across the northern tier of the U.S. during early (May–June) or late (July-August) summer. Specifically, the Upper Midwest 50th ozone percentile was greater than in any other year since 1995, when the ozone monitoring network had sufficient coverage to assess regional-scale ozone levels; the 90th percentile was the highest since 2002. Satellite and aircraft measurements demonstrate the availability of ozone precursors and ozone production within the smoke plumes.
Katich, J.M., E.C. Apel, I. Bourgeois, C. Brock, T.P. Bui, P. Campuzano-Jost, R. Commane, B. Daube, M. Dollner, M. Fromm, K.D. Froyd, A.J. Hills, R.S. Hornbrook, J. Jimenez, A. Kupc, K.D. Lamb, K. McKain, F. Moore, D.M. Murphy, B.A. Nault, J. Peischl, A.E. Perring, D.A. Peterson, E.A. Ray, K.H. Rosenlof, T. Ryerson, G.P. Schill, J.C. Schroder, B. Weinzierl, C. Thompson, C.J. Williamson, S.J. Wofsy, P. Yu, and J.P. Schwarz, Pyrocumulonimbus significantly impact the stratospheric aerosol budget, Science, doi:10.1126/science.add3101, 2023. Images of vast clouds of wildfire smoke towering into the sky have become all too familiar from recent active fire years across the western United States and Australia. A team of atmospheric scientists led by NOAA has demonstrated these big vertical plumes of wildfire smoke have a major long term impact on the stratosphere - and climate. Read More
Langford, A.O., C.J. Senff, R.J.A. II, K.C. Aikin, R. Ahmadov, W.M. Angevine, S. Baidar, W.A. Brewer, S.S. Brown, E.P. James, B.J. McCarty, S.P. Sandberg, and M.L. Zucker, Were wildfires responsible for the unusually high surface ozone in Colorado during 2021?, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2022JD037700, 2023. The summer of 2021 was a smoky one for Denver and northeastern Colorado. Smoky haze from wildfires in Arizona, California, and the Pacific Northwest shrouded the Front Range mountains and cast a gray pallor over the sky on a near-daily basis. The typical pattern of monsoon-driven summer thunderstorms that normally flush out stagnant air in July and August largely failed to materialize, allowing smog cooked under the summer sun in 90-degree heat to pool along the base of the foothills to the west. All that added up to a record number of days when ground-level ozone exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Read More
Yu, P., R.W. Portmann, Y. Peng, C.-C. Liu, Y. Zhu, E. Asher, Z. Bai, Y. Lu, J. Bian, M. Mills, A. Schmidt, K.H. Rosenlof, and O.B. Toon, Radiative forcing from the 2014-2022 volcanic and wildfire injections, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2023GL103791, 2023. This study finds that stratospheric aerosols from volcanoes and wildfires slow down the rate of global warming. In the past decade, aerosols from volcanoes and wildfires have offset about 26% of the increase in radiative forcing and 20% of the increase in the planet's surface temperature - but these aerosols won't be able to cool down Earth for much longer as greenhouse gas concentrations increase. Read More
Solomon, S., K. Stone, P. Yu, D.M. Murphy, D. Kinnisond, A.R. Ravishankarae, and P. Wang, Chlorine activation and enhanced ozone depletion induced by wildfire aerosol, Nature, doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05683-0, 2022. This study shows the Australian wildfires widened the ozone hole by ten percent in 2020. A wildfire can pump smoke up into the stratosphere, where the particles drift for over a year. While suspended there, these particles can trigger chemical reactions that erode the protective ozone layer shielding the Earth from the sun's damaging ultraviolet radiation. Read More
Shuman, J.K., J.K. Balch, R.T. Barnes, P.E. Higuera, C.I. Roos, D.W. Schwilk, E.N. Stavros, T. Banerjee, M.M. Bela, J. Bendix, S. Bertolino, S. Bililign, K.D. Bladon, P. Brando, R.E. Breidenthal, B. Buma, D. Calhoun, L.M.V. Carvalho, M.E. Cattau, K.M. Cawley, S. Chandra, M.L. Chipman, J. Cobian-Iñiguez, E. Conlisk, J.D. Coop, A. Cullen, K.T. Davis, A. Dayalu, F. De Sales, M. Dolman, L.M. Ellsworth, S. Franklin, C.H. Guiterman, M. Hamilton, E.J. Hanan, W.D. Hansen, S. Hantson, B.J. Harvey, A. Holz, T. Huang, M.D. Hurteau, N.T. Ilangakoon, M. Jennings, C. Jones, A. Klimaszewski-Patterson, L.N. Kobziar, J. Kominoski, B. Kosovic, M.A. Krawchuk, P. Laris, J. Leonard, S.M. Loria-Salazar, M. Lucash, H. Mahmoud, E. Margolis, T. Maxwell, J.L. McCarty, D.B. McWethy, R.S. Meyer, J.R. Miesel, W.K. Moser, R.C. Nagy, D. Niyogi, H.M. Palmer, A. Pellegrini, B. Poulter, K. Robertson, A.V. Rocha, M. Sadegh, F. Santos, F. Scordo, J.O. Sexton, A.S. Sharma, A.M.S. Smith, A.J. Soja, C. Still, T. Swetnam, A.D. Syphard, M.W. Tingley, A. Tohidi, A.T. Trugman, M. Turetsky, J.M. Varner, Y. Wang, T. Whitman, S. Yelenik, and X. Zhang, Reimagine fire science for the anthropocene, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Nexus, doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac115, 2022. As wildfires cause increasing devastation worldwide, dozens of fire experts across the nation are joining together in calling for a more strategic and interdisciplinary approach to pursuing wildfire research and protecting vulnerable communities. Read More
Bourgeois, I., J. Peischl, J.A. Neuman, S.S. Brown, C.R. Thompson, K.C. Aikin, H.M. Allen, H. Angot, E.C. Apel, C.B. Baublitz, J.F. Brewer, P. Campuzano-Jost, R. Commane, J.D. Crounse, B.C. Daube, J.P. DiGangi, G.S. Diskin, L.K. Emmons, A.M. Fiore, G.I. Gkatzelis, A. Hills, R.S. Hornbrook, L.G. Huey, J.L. Jimenez, M. Kim, F. Lacey, K. McKain, L.T. Murray, B.A. Nault, D.D. Parrish, E. Ray, C. Sweeney, D. Tanner, S.C. Wofsy, and T.B. Ryerson, Large contribution of biomass burning emissions to ozone throughout the global remote troposphere, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1073/pnas.2109628118, 2021. This research demonstrates that the effects of fire emissions on the atmosphere are even larger and far more widespread than previously believed, and substantially contribute to one of the most common and harmful constituents of urban pollution: ozone. Read More
Xu, L., J.D. Crounse, K.T. Vasquez, H. Allen, P.O. Wennberg, I. Bourgeois, S.S. Brown, P. Campuzano-Jost, M.M. Coggon, J.H. Crawford, J.P. DiGangi, G.S. Diskin, A. Fried, E.M. Gargulinski, J.B. Gilman, G.I. Gkatzelis, H. Guo, J.W. Hair, S.R. Hall, H.A. Halliday, T.F. Hanisco, R.A. Hannun, C.D. Holmes, L.G. Huey, J.L. Jimenez, A. Lamplugh, Y.R. Lee, J. Liao, J. Lindaas, S.A. McKeen, J.A. Neuman, J.B. Nowak, J. Peischl, D.A. Peterson, F. Piel, D. Richter, P.S. Rickly, M.A. Robinson, A.W. Rollins, T.B. Ryerson, R.H. Schwantes, J.P. Schwarz, K. Sekimoto, V. Selimovic, T. Shingler, A.J. Soja, J.M.S. Clair, D.J. Tanner, K. Ullmann, P.R. Veres, J. Walega, C. Warneke, R.A. Washenfelder, P. Weibring, A. Wisthaler, G.M. Wolfe, C.C. Womack, and R.J. Yokelson, Ozone chemistry in western U.S. wildfire plumes, Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abl3648, 2021. Using data gathered from a specially equipped jet that spent a month flying through and studying wildfire plumes, scientists have a better understanding now of how wildfire smoke impacts air quality. Crucially, they found a mechanism for predicting the production of the pollutant ozone. Read More
Gao, R.-S., K.H. Rosenlof, B. Kärcher, S. Tilmes, O.B. Toon, C. Maloney, and P. Yu, Toward practical stratospheric aerosol albedo modification: Solar-powered lofting, Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe3416, 2021. The dynamics that lift smoke from large wildfires into the upper atmosphere could potentially be employed one day to help temporarily cool the planet, based on the findings of this modeling study. Read More
Yu, P., S.M. Davis, O.B. Toon, R.W. Portmann, C.G. Bardeen, J.E. Barnes, H. Telg, C. Maloney, X. Wang, and K.H. Rosenlof, Persistent stratospheric warming due to 2019-20 Australian wildfire smoke, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2021GL092609, 2021. Research on the massive Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020 shows that almost 1 million metric tons of smoke rose into the stratosphere, causing it to warm by about 1 degree Celsius for six months, and likely contributed to the large and persistent ozone hole that formed over Antarctica during the Southern Hemisphere's spring. Read More
Schill, G.P., K.D. Froyd, H. Bian, A. Kupc, C. Williamson, C.A. Brock, E. Ray, R.S. Hornbrook, A.J. Hills, E.C. Apel, M. Chin, P.R. Colarco, and D.M. Murphy, Widespread biomass burning smoke throughout the remote troposphere, Nature Geosciences, doi:10.1038/s41561-020-0586-1, 2020. Smoke emitted from wildfires and agricultural burning constitutes one of the largest sources of aerosol particles to Earth's atmosphere. However, little is known about the importance of smoke on the climate system after it dissipates into remote areas of the planet. This study takes a new look at this faint, old smoke and finds that it is just as important an influence on the climate as the thick plumes produced by active fires. Read More
Yu, P., O.B. Toon, C.G. Bardeen, Y. Zhu, K.H. Rosenlof, R.W. Portmann, T.D. Thornberry, R.-S. Gao, S.M. Davis, E. Wolf, J. de Gouw, D.A. Peterson, M.D. Fromm, and A. Robock, Black carbon lofts wildfire smoke high into the stratosphere to form a persistent plume, Science, doi:10.1126/science.aax1748, 2019. Thunderstorms generated by a group of giant wildfires in 2017 injected a small volcano's worth of aerosol into the stratosphere, creating a smoke plume that lasted for almost nine months. Researchers studying the plume found that black carbon or soot in the smoke was key to the plume's rapid rise: the soot absorbed solar radiation, heating the surrounding air and allowing the plume to quickly rise. Read More
Sekimoto, K., Koss, A. R., Gilman, J. B., Selimovic, V., Coggon, M. M., Zarzana, K. J., Yuan, B., Lerner, B. M., Brown, S. S., Warneke, C., Yokelson, R. J., Roberts, J. M., and de Gouw, J., High- and low-temperature pyrolysis profiles describe volatile organic compound emissions from western US wildfire fuels, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, doi:10.5194/acp-18-9263-2018, 2018. Wildfire emissions, which can be transported over long distances, can be toxic and contribute to the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone and fine particles in the atmosphere. Those emissions affect human health and the environment, so scientists want to know what's in wildfire smoke. According to this research, what matters most is not what kind of fuel is burning, but the temperature at which it burns. Read More
