Pacific Northwest: Wildfire Smoke Brought Radioactivity and Ozone

[Emily]

(Cliff Mass is a UW climate scientist)

http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2017/08/wildfire-smoke-brought-enhanced.html

[h=2]Sunday, August 13, 2017[/h] Wildfire Smoke Brought Radioactivity and Ozone

Now many folks were unhappy with the low visibility and dismal skies during our wildfire smoke period. And I know a number of you were discomforted by the particles in the air.

But there is more. According to U.S. government measurements, radioactivity and ozone were higher as well.

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So where did the radioactivity come from in the soils and plant materials in the area of the BC fires? I am no expert in this, but one could speculate there could be deposition from the Fukushima event, the remnants of previous above ground atomic testing, or perhaps natural radioactivity in the soils. Perhaps one of you knows more about this.
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And then there was ozone...VERY high levels of ozone that were produced by the numerous BC fires.

Fires produce nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons that can combine to produce ozone. . According to my UW Bothell colleague (and a specialist in NW atmospheric chemistry) Dan Jaffe, the ozone levels were stunning...