Battleangel

Russian peat bogs on fire. And thanks to an unlikely high pressure system the smoke managed to get all the way to the south of Sweden which was enveloped in a thin but very noticeable smoke cloud. There seems to be uncontrolled fires raging in Ukraine as well so who knows where this stuff is coming from.
It’s a prime example of how Physical Geography works. And an eerie reminder of how the global cycles of matter affect all of us. It’s a small and local echo of how more massive processes like volcanic eruptions or meteor impacts seriously threaten our ecological balance.
This series of event, no matter how minute they may seem could have dire after effects. Large fires are always a problem since they create particle plumes. Particles in the air can act as CCN (cloud condensing nuclei), i.e. cloud formation. Clouds can act either as a shield for Cosmic Radiation and/or Terrestrial Radiation.. It all depends on the altitude. Of course, the particles themselves can act as the basis for reflecting radiation as well.
The unique thing with bogs and wetlands in general is that they act as enormous carbon sinks, i.e. they store CO2. While any form of combustion creates carbon dioxide, burning of bog land or dry out of the same releases titanic amounts. And the destruction of the ecosystem might prevent corbon storage for a foreseeable future. The bottom line is that the concentration of carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere. And carbon dioxide is active in the atmospheric window, i.e. it works a so called greenhouse gas. While it is a natural process, this is borderline anthropogenic and we have to remember that the last 200 years of industrialization already increased CO2 levels well beyond what is “normal” on this planet. The bad news is that it’s getting warmer and the good news is that we narrowly avoided an ice age I suppose.