The consequences of global biomass burning

Abstract

Global biomass burning encompasses forest burning for land clearing, the annual burning of grasslands, the annual burning of agricultural stubble and waste after harvests, and the burning of wood as fuel. These activities generate CO2, CH4 and other hydrocarbons, CO, H2, NO, NH3, and CH3Cl; of these, CO, CH4 and the hydrocarbons, and NO, are involved in the photochemical production of tropospheric O3, while NO is transformed to NO2 and then to nitric acid, which falls as acid rain. Biomass burning is also a major source of atmospheric particulates and aerosols which affect the transmission of incoming solar radiation and outgoing IR radiation through the atmosphere, with significant climatic effects.