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How wildfires deplete ozone in the stratosphere

Unexpected smoke-particle chemistry is shown to be the link between intense wildfires and stratospheric ozone loss. As the climate changes, more-frequent and more-intense fires might delay the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer.
  1. V. Faye McNeill

    1. V. Faye McNeill is in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.

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  2. Joel A. Thornton

    1. Joel A. Thornton is in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

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The devastating Australian bushfires of 2019–20 sent massive plumes of smoke high into the atmosphere, where it was transported around the world, affecting air quality as far away as South America1. Satellite data showed that this smoke also caused changes in the composition of the upper atmosphere, including a decline in stratospheric levels of ozone2,3 — a gas that forms a protective layer around Earth, shielding terrestrial life from damaging short-wave ultraviolet radiation. But the mechanism by which wildfire smoke might enhance ozone depletion has remained uncertain. In a paper in Nature, Solomon et al.4 make the case that particulate matter from wildfire smoke contributes to the destruction of stratospheric ozone, and suggest how it does this.

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Nature 615, 219-221 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00598-w

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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