Wildfires are a major source of air pollution. They are also predicted to worsen as climate change progresses
The following article, written by Nealan Gerrebos, University of British Columbia and Allan Bertram, University of British Columbia originally appeared on The Conversation and is published here with permission:Within the smoke particles produced by these fires is a wide range of organic chemical compounds known as “brown carbon.” Brown carbon absorbs sunlight, and in doing so, contributes to global warming.
As atmospheric chemists living in a region frequently polluted by wildfire smoke, we wanted to know more about these effects. We worked together with atmospheric chemists at the University of Toronto and Oklahoma State University, along with atmospheric modellers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to find out just how long this bleaching process takes and the atmospheric impacts.
For most types of aerosol particles, the amount being absorbed is negligible. That means a lot of the light reflects back to space. Through this mechanism, some of the pollution we create actually masks the full impact of greenhouse gases. Significantly slower reaction It was previously assumed that reactions between brown carbon and ozone were relatively fast. Within one day of being emitted from a fire, brown carbon would mostly stop absorbing solar radiation. But now, through a combination of laboratory experiments and atmospheric simulations, it is clear that the reaction between brown carbon and ozone can be significantly slower.
For an oxidant like ozone to bleach brown carbon, ozone needs to penetrate and mix within the smoke particles. When smoke particles become viscous, the oxidants take an extremely long time to mix — over a year in some cases.
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