Smoke-charged vortex doubles hemispheric aerosol in the middle stratosphere and buffers ozone depletion.
Sci Adv
; 10(28): eadn3657, 2024 Jul 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38996024
ABSTRACT
Australian mega-wildfires in the summer of 2019-2020 injected smoke into the stratosphere, causing strong ozone depletion in the lower stratosphere. Here, we model the smoke plume and reproduce its unexpected trajectory toward the middle stratosphere at ~35-kilometer altitude. We show that a smoke-charged vortex (SCV) induced and maintained by absorbing aerosols played a key role in lofting pollutants from the lower stratosphere and nearly doubled the southern hemispheric aerosol burden in the middle stratosphere. The SCV caused a redistribution of stratospheric aerosols, which boosted heterogeneous chemistry in the middle stratosphere and enhanced ozone production, compensating for up to 70% of the ozone depletion in the lower stratosphere. As global warming continues, we expect a growing frequency and importance of SCVs in promoting the impacts of wildfires on stratospheric aerosols and chemistry.
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1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Adv
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article