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NASA confirms bushfire smoke circles globe and returns to Australian skies

NASA has detected that smoke from the devastating bushfires has circled the globe and returned to Australian soil today. This is why it’s happening.

Louise Starkey
less than 2 min read
January 14, 2020 - 6:59PM
News Corp Australia Network
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Smoke from the Australian bushfires has not only affected skies and air quality in cities abroad – it has circled the globe and returned to home soil.

It entered the airspace of the south of Western Australia overnight, according to NASA Goddard’s Colin Seftor.

The research scientist confirmed the smoke’s movement, which was lofted more than 15 kilometres high with the formation of an unusually large number of pyrocumulonimbus (pryCbs) events – essentially fire-induced thunderstorms, triggered by the uplift of smoke, ash and burning material.

PryCbs events provide a pathway for smoke to reach the stratosphere – more than 16 kilometres in altitude – which enables smoke to travel thousands of kilometres.

Since bushfires kicked-off in September 2019, the smoke has darkened New Zealand skies, affected its air quality and left brown sooty deposits on its glaciers.

The smoke and its effects have caused many to take to social media to express their heartbreak for Australia and displeasure on the impacts on their country.

The skies in central Chile have also turned grey, and in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires they became red.

By January 8, NASA confirmed the smoke had travelled halfway around the world.

Speaking about the satellite data from the OMPS-NM instrument – used to create an ultraviolet aerosol index to track the aerosol and smoke – Mr Seftor said “the aerosol index values produced by some of the Australian pryCbs events have rivalled that largest values ever recorded.”

NASA’s satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions.

The locations of new fires are land managers globally within hours of the satellite overpass, NASA states.

“The UV index has a characteristic that is particularly well suited for identifying and tracking smoke from pryCbs events: the higher the smoke plume, the larger the aerosol index value. Values over 10 are often associated with such events,” Mr Seftor said.

Originally published as NASA confirms bushfire smoke circles globe and returns to Australian skies

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/science/nasa-confirms-bushfire-smoke-circles-globe-and-returns-to-australian-skies/news-story/300957ca5816cbeba38e544c63f254f2