Cool Geo-Pic: Fire Season in a Rain Forest

This Cool Geo-Pic comes again from NASA's Earth Observatory. What can create a fire season in a rain forest? Us, of course.

Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:

" ...Prior to widespread human settlement and forest clearing, there was no such thing as a fire season in the Amazon Rainforest. The ability of trees to draw water up from deep underground during the annual dry season and a lack of natural fire triggers—lightning rarely occurs without rain—meant that in most places, a fire might occur once in several hundred—or perhaps as many as 1,000—years. Today, burning begins in August, generally peaks in September, and tapers off by October; during these months, the skies over the Amazon fill with smoke ......"

"..... Scientists use the amount of smoke and fires in the Amazon as an indicator of how much of the Amazon was cleared or degraded each year, but the burning has other impacts. Fires release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, adding to global warming. And the smoke chokes off cloud formation, which changes the Amazon’s energy balance: fewer clouds mean more sunlight reaches the surface, which leads to warming."

Full Article - Click Here

References / Credits:

Koren, I., Remer, L., and Longo, K. (2007). Reversal of trend of biomass burning in the Amazon. Geophysical Research Letters,34, L20404, doi:10.1029/2007GL031530.
Lindsey, R. (2004). From Forest to Field: How Fire is Transforming the Amazon. NASA’s Earth Observatory. Accessed June 29, 2009.
Lindsey, R. (2008). Amazon Fires on the Rise. NASA’s Earth Observatory. Accessed June 29, 2009.
Torres, O. . Chen, Z., Jethva, H., Ahn, C., Freitas, S.R., and Bhartia, P.K. (2009). OMI Observations of the Anomalous 2008 Southern Hemisphere Biomass Burning Season. Manuscript submitted for publication.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, based on OMI aerosol data provided by Omar Torres and Changwoo Ahn (Hampton University). Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
Instrument:
Aura - OMI

Cool Geo-Pic: Sulfur Dioxide from Okmok Volcano

Sulfur Dioxide from Okmok Volcano
Click here to view full image (2533 kb)

"Cut & Paste" Highlights:

On July 12, 2008, Okmok Volcano, in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands erupted, releasing a plume of ash and steam. Besides emissions visible to human eyes, Okmok also released sulfur dioxide, a gas our eyes cannot see, but which can affect both human health and climate.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite measured the sulfur dioxide from Okmok Volcano from July 12-20, 2008. This image shows the estimated sulfur dioxide at altitudes around 16 kilometers (10 miles) released by the volcano over that time span, with red indicating the highest levels, and pale pink indicating the lowest. The sulfur dioxide was most intense southeast of the volcano, but lower levels spread both to the south and east, forming a large L shape, and spreading over parts of the continental United States and Canada...."

Full Article:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18098

Credits:

Image courtesy Fred Prata, NILU. Caption by Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey.

World Perspective - Global Carbon Issue

Taken from NASA's photo collection, with an animated link to the time-flow display of high levels of carbon monoxide on a global scale
Click here to view animation (9840 kb) - yet another reminder everything has it impact.

Short Excerpt (taken from story - full link below):

The streak of red, orange, and yellow across South America, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean in this image points to high levels of carbon monoxide on September 30, 2005, as measured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The carbon monoxide primarily comes from fires burning in the Amazon basin, with some additional contribution from fires in southern Africa. The fires blanketed much of South America with smoke, as shown in a photo-like image captured by the MODIS sensor on the Aqua satellite on September 20. The animation (available by clicking on the image) shows carbon monoxide, one component of the smoke, sweeping east throughout August and September 2005. Fires in Africa probably contributed to the high concentrations of carbon monoxide over Africa and the Indian Ocean.
Released when carbon is burned, carbon monoxide is a harmful pollutant that reduces the amount of oxygen that can reach tissue and organs in the body. Additionally, carbon monoxide is a precursor to ground-level ozone and smog, so a global measurement of the gas provides a good indicator of the overall health of the atmosphere. On a global basis, nearly 50 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from man-made sources, and the rest come from biomass burning, as shown here, or natural sources, says Dr. Wallace McMillan from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology.

Full Story at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17724

Interesting side reading:

New NASA AIRS Data to Aid Weather, Climate Research, on the NASA news page.
Smoke gets in your eyes: NASA study shows global impacts of pollution, on the AIRS web site.
Image courtesy NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory