The Institute of Earth Sciences (ICT) of the University of Évora guarantees that the smoke column from the forest fires in Canada, which reached the Iberian Peninsula in recent days, has already reached countries in central Europe. “It’s hitting France and Germany, but that doesn’t mean it won’t hit us again in a few days,” says Maria João Costa. The researcher from the ICT Pole Évora Atmosphere, Water and Climate Sciences Research Group adds that “we still have some remains here”, but much less than in recent days.
The Lidar Raman System of the University of Évora began to detect the smoke column from the fires in Canada on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 26, at altitudes between one and five kilometers. This system is part of the EARLINET network that is part of the European Consortium for Research Infrastructures ACTRIS (The Aerosol, Clouds, and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure) and allows obtaining information on different altitudes of the atmosphere. The Évora station was the first station in Europe to detect smoke particles.
The researcher adds that the fires in Canada already reach an area of 77,000 square kilometers, around 90% of the area of mainland Portugal.
As they spread through the atmosphere, smoke particles can change and affect the weather differently. “There is still a certain lack of knowledge about the characterization of these particles and we still do not know how they react, for example with solar radiation, or how they are part of the entire cloud creation process,” he underlines. Maria João Costa also adds that, depending on the level of environment they are in, they can behave differently. “If they are at a lower level they can have a warming effect, if they are at a higher level or if they are injected into the stratosphere they can have the opposite effect,” she adds.
If the particles are deposited in places with higher latitudes and that have snow or ice, for example, they have the effect of darkening those surfaces”, he clarifies. If these surfaces stop being reflective, there is more warming, ”she points out. outside.
However, he points out that much remains to be known on the subject and that knowledge will help those who make weather and climate forecasting models.
Source: TSF
