https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6453/587.full
Black carbon lofts wildfire smoke high into the stratosphere to form a persistent plume Pengfei Yu1,2,3,*, Owen B. Toon4,5, Charles G. Bardeen6, Yunqian Zhu5, Karen H. Rosenlof2, Robert W. Portmann2, Troy D. Thornberry1,2, Ru-Shan Gao2, Sean M. Davis2, Eric T. Wolf5,7, Joost de Gouw1,8, David A. Peterson9, Michael D. Fromm10, Alan Robock11 See all authors and affiliations Science 09 Aug 2019: Vol. 365, Issue 6453, pp. 587-590 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax1748 Article Figures & Data Info & Metrics eLetters PDF You are currently viewing the abstract. View Full Text Log in to view the full text via AAAS login AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions. Become an AAAS Member Activate your Account Purchase Access to Other Journals in the Science Family Account Help Log in via OpenAthens. Log in with your institution via Shibboleth. More options Purchase digital access to this article Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use. Purchase this issue in print Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD. Up in smoke Extensive and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest of the United States in 2017 injected large quantities of smoke into the stratosphere. Yu et al. used satellite observations and modeling to characterize the history and chemistry of that smoke. The smoke rose to altitudes between 12 and 23 kilometers within 2 months owing to solar heating of black carbon. The smoke then remained in the stratosphere for more than 8 months. Photochemical loss of organic carbon resulted in a smoke lifetime 40% shorter than expected. Science, this issue p. 587 Abstract In 2017, western Canadian wildfires injected smoke into the stratosphere that was detectable by satellites for more than 8 months. The smoke plume rose from 12 to 23 kilometers within 2 months owing to solar heating of black carbon, extending the lifetime and latitudinal spread. Comparisons of model simulations to the rate of observed lofting indicate that 2% of the smoke mass was black carbon. The observed smoke lifetime in the stratosphere was 40% shorter than calculated with a standard model that does not consider photochemical loss of organic carbon. Photochemistry is represented by using an empirical ozone-organics reaction probability that matches the observed smoke decay. The observed rapid plume rise, latitudinal spread, and photochemical reactions provide new insights into potential global climate impacts from nuclear war. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAJ3C-06oAHPpiW19PpOQhNvKM%2B9-wuFukHaT1W1_uSk5ko%3D81A%40mail.gmail.com.
