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- Title
New seasonal pattern of pollution emerges from changing North American wildfires.
- Authors
Buchholz, Rebecca R.; Park, Mijeong; Worden, Helen M.; Tang, Wenfu; Edwards, David P.; Gaubert, Benjamin; Deeter, Merritt N.; Sullivan, Thomas; Ru, Muye; Chin, Mian; Levy, Robert C.; Zheng, Bo; Magzamen, Sheryl
- Abstract
Rising emissions from wildfires over recent decades in the Pacific Northwest are known to counteract the reductions in human-produced aerosol pollution over North America. Since amplified Pacific Northwest wildfires are predicted under accelerating climate change, it is essential to understand both local and transported contributions to air pollution in North America. Here, we find corresponding increases for carbon monoxide emitted from the Pacific Northwest wildfires and observe significant impacts on both local and down-wind air pollution. Between 2002 and 2018, the Pacific Northwest atmospheric carbon monoxide abundance increased in August, while other months showed decreasing carbon monoxide, so modifying the seasonal pattern. These seasonal pattern changes extend over large regions of North America, to the Central USA and Northeast North America regions, indicating that transported wildfire pollution could potentially impact the health of millions of people. Growing emissions from Pacific Northwest wildfires have increased atmospheric carbon monoxide in August, raising questions about potential health impacts as the seasonal pattern of air quality changes for large regions of North America.
- Subjects
NORTH America; ATMOSPHERIC carbon monoxide; AIR pollution; WILDFIRE prevention; WILDFIRES; POLLUTION; SEASONS; AIR quality
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2022, Vol 13, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-29623-8