Lerato Shikwambana from the South African National Space Agency and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and colleagues also from South Africa compared the wildfire emissions of a strong El Niño event in 2015–2016 and a pronounced La Niña event in 2010–2011. They find that both a strong El Niño and La Niña event can increase emissions from wildfires compared with average years, but they affect different regions, with the effect of La Niña reaching farther south than El Niño. Overall, emissions are stronger during the El Niño phase, mainly driven by higher air temperatures. ENSO variability is expected to increase with future warming, which would also make strong El Niño events more likely. Therefore, these findings indicate that the exposure to wildfire air pollution could grow in southern Africa.
Source: Ecology - nature.com
