IT MAY BE THE DROUGHT AND AEROSOLS IN THE AIR!
Drought and Air Quality Map (August 2010)
Download large image (4 MB, PNG)
Drought and Air Quality Map (August 2009)
Download large image (4 MB, PNG)
The two maps show aerosols as measured by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. Top image was acquired August 1 – 31, 2010, above image exactly a year earlier on August 1 – 31, 2009,. Source: NASA E/O. For full caption click here.
How Aerosols Penetrate Atmosphere
- Car exhausts and industrial emissions heated by high temperatures
- Fires
- Dust storms
- Volcanic eruptions
- Drought, strong winds and heatwaves accelerate formation of chemical aerosols.
Aerosol concentrations
- Are influenced by the weather
- Affect weather patterns
- Help/hinder cloud formation
- Filter light, making regional temperatures cooler
- Absorb energy, heating the atmosphere.
Worst Affected Areas in August 2010
- Russia (drought and heatwaves causing fires)
- South America (Drought over the Amazon basin causing fires; volcanic eruptions)
- Canada (wildfires caused by drought in Canada’s boreal forest)
- Central Africa (fires started by farmers to clear land for farming)
- North Africa, Arabian peninsula, and southwest Asia come (caused by dust storms)
- China, Europe, and the U.S. (industrial emissions, mainly from burning coal; vehicle exhaust)
Related Links:
Fire Earth 
