Scientists using NASA data have traced soot drifting from Southeast Asian residences to Alaska and Arctic regions, possibly contributing to climate change as the particles absorb more energy from the sun.
It’s all part of a NASA effort to track the drift and flow of smoke and aerosols across the globe.
This pair of images from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite shows smoke measurements over Alaska and western Canada on August 15, 2005 (top) and August 21, 2005 (bottom). Increasing amounts of smoke are shown as an aerosol index with shades of blue (little or no smoke) to dull red (thick smoke). Credit: NASA/OMI Science Team