Intense boreal forest fires in August 2017 caused smoke plumes that reached record levels in the stratosphere; satellite measurements show that the effects rivaled a moderate volcanic eruption.
aerosols & particles
Posted inNews
Road Dust: A Health Hazard Hidden in Plain Sight
Legacy heavy metals from past industrial activity combine with traffic paint; asphalt; and bits of tires, brakes, and car parts to create toxic dust on our roadways.
Posted inNews
Asbestos Fibers Thread Through Rocks and Dust Outside Vegas
Scientists found natural asbestos minerals in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States. The health implications aren’t clear, nor are the impacts on development.
Posted inNews
Wildfire Smoke Traps Itself in Valleys
Simulations show how wildfire smoke increases atmospheric stability inside some valleys, creating a feedback loop that prevents its dispersion.
Posted inNews
Golden State Blazes Contributed to Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
A new case study investigates causes and effects of California’s 2017 wildfire season.
Posted inFeatures
The Coming Surge of Rocket Emissions
With the space industry’s rapid growth, rocket exhaust will increasingly accumulate in the atmosphere. How this accumulation might affect the planet is unknown—because we’re not taking it seriously.
Posted inScience Updates
Scientists Share Results of Dust Belt Research
Central Asian Dust Conference; Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 8–12 April 2019
Posted inNews
What Wildfire Smoke Tells Us About Nuclear Winter
A cloud of smoke from 2017 Canadian wildfires was so huge that it self-lofted and stayed in the atmosphere for 8 months. Scientists used it as an example for climate simulations of nuclear warfare.
Posted inNews
Algorithm Spots Climate-Altering Ship Tracks in Satellite Data
Tens of thousands of ship tracks—cloud structures created when ships’ exhaust plumes interact with the atmosphere—are pinpointed automatically, furthering study of these climate-altering features.
Posted inNews
Contrails’ Climate Impact Could Triple by 2050
Contrail cirrus clouds have warmed the atmosphere more than all the carbon dioxide from planes since the dawn of aviation and will do so even more in the future.