Is wildfire smoke helping to melt the Greenland ice sheet?

The Greenland ice sheet, picture taken 2009

I have come across an interesting story from the University of Ohio State saying satellite observations have revealed the first direct evidence that smoke from wildfires in other parts of the Arctic is drifting over the Greenland ice sheet, polluting it with soot which makes it more likely to melt in the sun.The information was presented at this week’s meeting of the American Geophysical Union. It is based on images from NASA’s Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite. The images show smoke from Arctic fires billowing over Greenland during the past summer. Jason Box, an associate professor of Geography in Ohio was moved to investigate tundra fires when his home state of Colorado was badly hit during the past year. Now his results confirm what researchers have suspected for some time. You can read a summary of the story on Newswise.

Yesterday we were talking about black carbon from air travel. Today it’s forest fire smoke. Let me just make two observations. Firstly, it has struck me that satellite technology has really moved forward fast and given us access to types of information that would previously have been unthinkable.  That should really speed up action. Secondly, sometimes it is hard not to get overwhelmed by the huge number of ways we are changing the environment, the climate, and the conditions of life on the planet. That means we need a really holistic approach when it comes to environmental and climate protection. Nothing we do is without an impact.