El Niño-driven fires affect the natural emission of an ozone depleting trace gas

Research linked severe Indonesian wildfires in 2015 to El Niño drought. Credit: NASA

Methyl bromide is an important ozone depleting trace gas that is currently emitted primarily from natural sources. Most of the anthropogenic production of methyl bromide was phased out in response to Montreal Protocol on Substance that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1999 and its atmospheric concentration has significantly declined since. However, the cause of a substantial temporary variation observed in the atmospheric concentration of methyl bromide remains elusive. A new study funded in part by CPO’s Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle, & Climate (AC4) program and published in the journal of Geophysical Research Letters investigated the causes leading to the interannual variability of methyl bromide.

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