BIG polluters had better beware. Researchers have just produced the first
global maps showing flows of the poisonous greenhouse gas carbon monoxide. The
maps may soon be detailed enough to pinpoint the culprits.
Earlier maps showing the distribution of pollution were compiled using data
from land or balloon-based sensors, and were usually restricted to cities or
industrial sites suspected of polluting. But with NASA’s new Terra satellite,
it’s possible to scan the entire globe to identify which countries are
generating the pollution.
The maps use data from a sensor on Terra called MOPITT, for “measurements of
pollution in the troposphere”. MOPITT tracks carbon monoxide (CO) by detecting
the infrared light it emits. Scientists from the University of Toronto and the
US National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, have combined
this data with a model of atmospheric flows to produce an animated illustration
showing the sources of CO and where it moves on the wind. The modelling fills in
areas obscured by cloud.
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Because CO is a by-product of almost all combustion, James Drummond of the
University of Toronto thinks carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides will spread in a
similar way. “CO is a good tracer for other pollutants,” he told the AGU.
Drummond’s images reveal huge sources of CO in Brazil and South-East Asia,
probably because of forest fires. MOPITT’s current resolution is about 22
kilometres, but Drummond hopes improved modelling will even allow them to
identify pollution from particular road networks and factories.
The pictures prove the viability of a tax on carbon emissions, says Daniel
Jacob, an atmospheric scientist at Harvard University. “The only way we’re going
to quantify carbon dioxide emissions is by observations like this,” he says.