Uploaded November 2019 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
Smoke From Australian Bushfire Blows Halfway Around the Globe
Bushfires continue to blaze across huge bone-dry swaths of Australia. The state of New South Wales in the southeast has been hardest hit, with more than 6,300 square miles scorched so far. Imagine the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area — and then some — going up in smoke. That's how much territory has been scorched, with new areas succumbing every day. Locally, thick smoke from the blazes has smothered Sidney, causing terrible air quality. But the smoke has been carried much further than that. In fact, particles from the Australian bushfire smoke have blown half way around the planet. You can see the smoke in the NASA animation above. Based on satellite data and modeling, it shows shows black carbon from the fires blowing all the way across the Pacific Ocean to South America — and then out over the South Atlantic. This is a distance of more than 11,000 miles!
Read more: discovermagazine.com/environment/aussie-bushfire-smoke-blows-halfway-around-the-globe
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Source: NASA Earth Observatory
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Smoke From Australian Bushfire Blows Halfway Around the Globe
Bushfires continue to blaze across huge bone-dry swaths of Australia. The state of New South Wales in the southeast has been hardest hit, with more than 6,300 square miles scorched so far. Imagine the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area — and then some — going up in smoke. That's how much territory has been scorched, with new areas succumbing every day. Locally, thick smoke from the blazes has smothered Sidney, causing terrible air quality. But the smoke has been carried much further than that. In fact, particles from the Australian bushfire smoke have blown half way around the planet. You can see the smoke in the NASA animation above. Based on satellite data and modeling, it shows shows black carbon from the fires blowing all the way across the Pacific Ocean to South America — and then out over the South Atlantic. This is a distance of more than 11,000 miles!
Read more: discovermagazine.com/environment/aussie-bushfire-smoke-blows-halfway-around-the-globe
—
Source: NASA Earth Observatory
—
ABOUT DISCOVER:
Discover is your source for science that matters, makes sense and is a lot of fun, too.
Visit us at: discovermagazine.com
FOLLOW US:
Facebook: facebook.com/DiscoverMag
Twitter: twitter.com/DiscoverMag
Instagram: instagram.com/discover.magazine
SUPPORT US:
Subscribe to Discover: bit.ly/34seAFT
Sign up for our newsletter: discovermagazine.com/newsletter-signup
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