Smoke from large bushfires in Western Australia streamed south almost to Antarctica, as detected by a sensor on the Suomi NPP satellite. (Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) Two big bushfires — one described as the largest in Western Australia's recent history — have lofted large amounts of smoke high into the atmosphere, where it has been picked up by winds and blown 2,000 miles to the south. Have a look at the image above, which was created using data from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite instrument, or OMPS, on the Suomi NPP satellite. The big magenta-colored spot to the south of Western Australia shows the highest concentration of aerosols from the smoke. When I follow the lighter blue plume from there to the south and east, I think I see some aerosols just off the coast of Antarctica.
Thick smoke streams from two bushfires in Western Australia, as ...
