Abstract
BIOMASS burning affects the African continent all year round1–4. In the dry season there are widespread savannah fires, and there are always some domestic and agricultural fires. Here we present measurement of particulate black carbon, which is an unambiguous indicator of combustion, in rain waters collected at a remote site in the Northern Congo. We find that the rains contain pollutants from biomass burning, and are particularly affected during the Northern Hemisphere dry season. Our results show that biomass-burning smoke particles may act as cloud condensation nuclei, and might thereby play a part in cloud formation and hence precipitation in the tropics3.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Delmas, R. A., Loudjani, P. & Podaire, A. in Global Biomass Burning (ed. Levine, J. S.) (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the press).
Cachier, H., Buat-Ménard, P., Fontugne, M. & Rancher, J. J. atmos. Chem. 3, 469–489 (1985).
Crutzen, P. J. & Andreae, M. O. Science 250, 1669–1678 (1990).
Crutzen, P. J., Hao, W. M., Liu, M. H., Lobert, J. M. & Scharffe, D. in Our Changing Atmosphere: Proc. 28th Liège Int. Colloq. (eds Crutzen, P. J., Gerard, J. C. & Zander, R.) 449–472 (Institut d'Astrophysique, Liège, 1989).
Cachier, H., Brémond, M. P. & Buat-Maénard, P. Tellus B41, 379–390 (1989).
Seiler, W. & Crutzen, P. J. Clim. Change 2, 207–247 (1980).
Lacaux, J. P., Delmas, R., Cros, B. & Andreae M. O. in Global Biomass Burning (ed. Levine, J. S.) (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the press).
Lacaux, J. P., Cros, B., Delmas, R. & Andreae, M. O. J. geophys. Res. (in the press).
Galloway, J. N., Likens, G. E., Keene, W. C. & Miller, J. M. J. geophys. Res. 87, 8771–8786 (1982).
Lacaux, J. P., Servant, J. & Baudet, J. Atmos. Envir. 21, 2643–2647 (1987).
Ogren, J. A., Groblicki, P. J. & Charlson, R. J. Sci. tot. Envir. 36, 329–338 (1984).
Ducret, J. & Cachier, H. 4th Int. Conf. Carbonaceous Particles in the Atmosphere (ed. Puxbaum, H.) (Technical University, Vienna, 1991).
Cachier, H., Brémond, M. P. & Buat-Ménard, P. Nature 340, 371–373 (1989).
Cachier, H. et al. in Global Biomass Burning (ed. Levine, J. S.) (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the press).
Detwiller, J. Météorologie 80, 337–347 (1965).
Leroux, M. in Les Principales Discontinuités Africaines FIT-CIO Rep. No. 29, 23–36 (Bureau d'Etude de la Direction de l'Exploitation Météorologique, Dakar 1973).
Cros, B. thesis, Univ. Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (1977).
Rogers, F., Zielinska, B., Tanner, R., Hudson, J. & Watson, J. in Global Biomass Burning (ed. Levine, J. S.) (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cachier, H., Ducret, J. Influence of biomass burning on equatorial African rains. Nature 352, 228–230 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/352228a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/352228a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Characterization of rainwater chemical composition after a Southeast Asia haze event: insight of transboundary pollutant transport during the northeast monsoon
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2017)
-
Unrealistic desiccation of marine stratocumulus clouds by enhanced solar absorption
Nature (1996)
-
Particulate carbon content in rain at various temperate and tropical locations
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry (1992)