Biomass Burning Reducing Albedo of the Arctic
11.03.2009 - Atmosphere & Space, Ice & Snow, Human Dimension, Other, Arctic
A new study by researchers at the Earth System Research Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Division (ESRL CSD) and the Global Monitoring Division (GMD) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), published on 30January in Geophysical Research Letters, showed that the 2008springtime "Arctic haze" over northern Alaska and the Arctic region hadunexpectedly high signatures of faraway sources: wildfires and biomassburning activities occurring in Asia. Using data from the April 2008Aerosol, Radiation, and Cloud Processes affecting Arctic Climate(ARCPAC) airborne field experiment, which used aircraft to gather dataon more than 50 plumes encountered during six research flights overnorthern Alaska and the Arctic sea ice, researchers analysed thechemical composition of the plumes and used transport models toconclude that most of the plumes were emitted by burning biomass andwildfires in Siberia, southern Russia and Kazakhstan.
Arctic haze is made of gas-phase and particle pollutants likely produced from pollution sources in Europe, Asia, and North America and occasional biomass burning and wildfires. Slow removal processes for the pollutants leads to the persistence of Arctic haze, which has been a regular feature in the Arctic since the 1950s. Dark smoke and haze absorbs solar radiation and can lead to direct warming of the troposphere, accelerate snow melt and change the climate-related properties of clouds, affecting the radiation balance and the climate in the region.
