 |
|
|
 Editorials | Environmental | October 2006 
Study: Mexican Fires Hurt U.S. Air Quality
 UPI
| | This view shows only a small portion of the biomass burning that marked the Earth photographs taken over Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina during this mission in September of 1993. Numerous point source fires are visible, in this late dry season scene, in the areas between the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. Most of this burning is probably associated with agricultural preparations. |
Scientists using NASA satellites have shown pollutants from Central American biomass burning can influence U.S. air quality and climate.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration-funded study found that during April-May 2003, large amounts of smoke from biomass burning in the Yucatan Peninsula and southern Mexico reached Texas, Oklahoma and other areas in the southeastern United States.
The smoke plumes degraded visibility and air quality in coastal regions along the Gulf of Mexico and resulted in the greatest concentration of small particulate matter in southern Texas since 1998, researchers said.
By blocking sunlight, the smoke plumes also cooled surface air temperatures over land. But higher in the atmosphere the smoke absorbed solar radiation and raised temperatures. That, said NASA researchers, created a circulation pattern that trapped smoke aerosols in the lower atmosphere, worsening air quality.
The researchers used a newly developed computer model to simulate the transport and effects of smoke in the atmosphere and on the Earth's surface.
The findings were detailed in the July 26 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us