Smoke billowing from the Thomas Fire in southern California on December 14, 2017. Photo by NASA Earth Observatory.
The Thomas Fire was the largest California wildfire on record when it burned over 280,000 acres and destroyed more than a thousand structures in December of 2017. Smoke and ash released into the atmosphere during wildfires not only impacts regional air quality, but may also spur phytoplankton growth and alter carbon cycling in nearby oceanic surface waters.
Sasha Wagner comments on Tanika Ladd’s research which was recently presented at the 2020 Ocean Sciences Meeting (San Diego, California) and seeks to understand the biogeochemical link between wildfire ash and marine ecosystems.
Read the full Eos article here: “Could wildfire ash feed the ocean’s tiniest life-forms?” - Originally published by J. Duncombe on 28 February 2020.
