Published
NASA-funded scientists have traced the origins of mysterious pockets of high ozone concentrations and low water vapor in the air above the western Pacific Ocean near Guam to fires burning in Southeast Asia and in Africa, half a world away.
These pockets of ozone—a powerful greenhouse gas—are three times more concentrated than surrounding air and are found at around 30,000 feet in the lower part of Earth’s atmosphere known as the troposphere, within the cruising altitude of most commercial airliners. As a greenhouse gas, ozone in the troposphere is an important contributor to global warming, but because it varies widely in where it occurs and how long it stays aloft, its true impact on climate change is hard to determine.
Researchers studying the air over Guam during the winter of 2014 during a pair of airborne field campaigns captured a comprehensive picture of the chemicals traveling with the ozone—chemicals such as hydrogen cyanide and acetonitrile, which originate in fires. Using a data-driven computer model, they then traced the ozone-laden air pockets back 10 to 15 days in most cases—right back to fires in either Southeast Asia, about 2,000 miles away, or tropical Africa, over 8,000 miles away.
Read more:
Download the high-resolution version here:
These pockets of ozone—a powerful greenhouse gas—are three times more concentrated than surrounding air and are found at around 30,000 feet in the lower part of Earth’s atmosphere known as the troposphere, within the cruising altitude of most commercial airliners. As a greenhouse gas, ozone in the troposphere is an important contributor to global warming, but because it varies widely in where it occurs and how long it stays aloft, its true impact on climate change is hard to determine.
Researchers studying the air over Guam during the winter of 2014 during a pair of airborne field campaigns captured a comprehensive picture of the chemicals traveling with the ozone—chemicals such as hydrogen cyanide and acetonitrile, which originate in fires. Using a data-driven computer model, they then traced the ozone-laden air pockets back 10 to 15 days in most cases—right back to fires in either Southeast Asia, about 2,000 miles away, or tropical Africa, over 8,000 miles away.
Read more:
Download the high-resolution version here:
- Category
- Documentary
- Tags
- NASA
Be the first to comment
Up Next
Autoplay
-
00:57
NASA Sees Intense Fires around the World
-
04:02
Experts Link East Africa Drought to La Niña in the Pacific
-
02:03
NASA | Ozone-Depleting Compound Persists
-
01:51
NASA | Big Ozone Holes Headed For Extinction By 2040
-
01:29
NASA | OLYMPEX Scientists in the Field: Rachael Kroodsma
-
01:51
NASA | Scientists Link Earlier Melting Of Snow To Dark Aerosols
-
02:30
NASA | Ozone-rich air descends from on high
-
02:53
NASA Studies How Arctic Fires Change the World
-
06:49
What Is The Ozone Layer? | Ozone Layer Depletion | Dr Binocs Show |Kids Learning Video|Peekaboo Kidz
-
05:45
SD9066: Ultra High-Tech Ways Scientists Might Defeat COVID-19
-
02:50
NASA | Fermi Helps Scientists Study Gamma-ray Thunderstorms
-
00:38
NASA Watches 30 Years of Ozone Success
-
01:23
NASA | Why Is the Ozone Hole Getting Smaller?
-
02:54
NASA Scientists Trek the South Pole
-
04:04
NASA | Scientists Create First Full 3D Model of Eta Carinae Nebula
-
15:20
NASA | A Story of Ozone: The Earth’s Natural Sunscreen
-
00:41
How NASA Scientists Measure Global Temperatures
-
01:44
NASA | OLYMPEX Scientists in the Field: Joe Zagrodnik
-
12:14
5 Scientists Who Experimented On Themselves: High Stakes Research
-
07:58
How NASA Detected Invisible Fires... With Brooms
-
15:25
Understanding Suspension Layouts | Single-Pivot, Horst Link, Dual-Link & More Explained!
-
01:57
NASA | Widely Used Coolants Contribute to Ozone Depletion
-
00:41
NASA Sees 30 Years of Yellowstone Recovery from 1988 Fires
-
02:50
NASA Evaluates New Threats to Earth’s Ozone Layer
Loading...