Tens of thou of wildfire ravaged Indonesia in September and October . A sizable share of these blazes was smoldering subterraneous peat fires , which sent toxic flatulence and particulate issue into the air . This new mathematical function demonstrate the extensive spread of one particularly nasty gas : carbon monoxide .
Wildfires in Indonesia are peculiarly troublesome . Unlike “ conventional ” forest fires , these fire smolder under the surface , making it extremely difficult to blow out ; it commonly takes a good downpour during the rainy season to put them out . Making matters worse , these peat - fuel fires free far more roll of tobacco and breeze contamination than most other types of wildfire .
lamentably , the job is only getting bad as sodbuster affiance in “ flog and burn ” USDA , in which fire is used to clear land for land and to burn away remnant craw junk . Scientists also admonish thatIndonesia is at risk from these fires because of El Nino .
The data for this CO map was acquire from September 1 - 13 , 2015 .
Scientists closely monitored the fires from September to October 2015 . The ikon above was made possible by theMeasurement of Pollution in the Troposphere(MOPITT ) sensor on theTerrasatellite , which can detect carbon monoxide , an otherwise odorless , colorless , but poisonous accelerator .
“ The 2015 Indonesian fires create some of the highest concentrations of carbon monoxide that we have ever seen with MOPITT , ” notedHelen Worden , a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research , in a NASA Earth Observatoryarticle .
gage from the fires as seen from infinite on September 24 , 2015 . ( NASAimageby Adam Voiland ( NASA Earth Observatory ) and Jeff Schmaltz ( LANCE MODIS Rapid Response ) )
Typically , carbon monoxide concentrations over Indonesia are at about 100 parts per billion . During the fire time of year , however , some parts of Borneo reached levels go up 1,300 part per billion .
C monoxide is considereda shadow gasin the atm , and is one ofsix major pollutantsregulated in the United States and other parts of the world . While it does not have a verbatim effect on global temperature , it does play a major role in atmospherical chemical science . As NASA notes , “ it affects the ability of the atmosphere to cleanse itself of many other polluting natural gas , ” and in combination with other forms of pollution and sunlight , “ it also takes part in the formation of lower - atmospherical ( “ bad ” ) ozone and urban smog . ”
[ NASA Earth Observatory(2 ) ( 3 ) ]
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