Smoke from wildfires in the United States has reached Europe
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
The Copernicus climate monitoring service has revealed that pollution produced by wildfires in the United States has reached Europe.
Smoke from wildfires in the United States has reached Europe
The Copernicus climate monitoring service has revealed that pollution produced by wildfires in the United States has reached Europe.
Tens, if not hundreds of times more intense than the average of the past 15 years, the smoke produced by the gigantic wildfires devastating the western United States has reached as far as Europe. The announcement was made by scientists from the Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service (Cams) at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (Ecmwf).
Smoke from US wildfires reaches Europe, satellite images show independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…
Record scale and extent of the wildfires
Thanks to satellite observations, "we have been monitoring the scale of the fires and the pollution they generate, which is being transported to other parts of the United States and beyond," explained Mark Parrington, senior scientist and wildfire expert at Cams.
The scientist added that "the scale and magnitude of these fires are at a much higher level than those recorded over the past 18 years according to our data collected since 2003. A good indicator of smoke density is aerosol optical depth. In the western United States, we have observed that depth levels have reached very high values of seven or more, which have been confirmed by independent ground-based measurements."
Aerosol optical depth levels through the roof
To put such a measurement into context, Parrington clarifies that "a level of one would already indicate a great many aerosols in the atmosphere." In this sense, "the monitoring of atmospheric conditions carried out by Cams is vital, as it provides decision-makers and other individuals with the information they need to make informed choices regarding their own health and the health of others."
The data also indicate that this year's wildfire activity is "unprecedented". The fires that have occurred in the federal states of California and Oregon have already caused the release into the atmosphere of CO2 emissions at record levels since wildfire measurements have been carried out on a regular basis. Cams cites figures of 21.7 million tonnes for California and 7.3 million for Oregon.
Western wildfire smoke nearing Europe, may be on around-the-world journey wapo.st/2FDcHzk
The smoke has travelled thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic
And the trails of this smoke, carried through the atmosphere, have travelled thousands of kilometres, reaching as far as northern Europe. This occurred last week, and a new wave is expected to arrive in the coming days. "The fact that these fires," Parrington concluded, "are emitting so many pollutants that dense smoke is reaching as far as 8,000 kilometres away shows just how devastating they are, both in terms of scale and duration."