Environmental News Network - NASA Study Finds Reduced African Grassland Fires Contribute to Short-lived Air Quality Improvements

Details: By NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; 26.Feb

NASA researchers have found a small but unexpected decrease in air pollution over some parts of Africa despite growing use of fossil fuels in many countries due to development and economic growth.

Cheryl Porter

NASA researchers have found a small but unexpected decrease in air pollution over some parts of Africa despite growing use of fossil fuels in many countries due to development and economic growth. However, they note the findings were evident only during the dry season over areas where a reduction in grassland fires occurred, which likely will not be enough to offset growing human-caused air pollution in the long term.

Researchers from NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York City analyzed satellite observations of the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a gas that causes respiratory illnesses in humans and can increase the formation close to Earth’s surface of other pollutants like particulate matter and ozone, which are also harmful to human health. They found that over the northern grassland region of sub-Saharan Africa during the dry season (November through February) NO2 dropped by 4.5%, about a 0.35% annual decline on average.

Though the decrease was small, it was unexpected, as higher fossil fuel consumption was expected to result in increased pollution levels.

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NASA Study Finds Reduced African Grassland Fires Contribute to Short-lived Air Quality Improvements