Wildfire dark brown carbon has strong global warming effects

Conventional understanding has held that brown #carbon—a type of organic #aerosol from #biomass burning—mainly absorbs sunlight in the near-ultraviolet range, giving it only a limited #climate impact. However, growing observations show that some #wildfire-derived #BrownCarbon appears dark brown or nearly black, absorbing light well into the visible spectrum. This "dark brown carbon" has been largely missing from global climate assessments.

The results show that wildfire-derived brown carbon has a global direct radiative effect of +0.097 W/m², with an uncertainty range of +0.050 to +0.276 W/m². Notably, the upper bound of this estimate (0.276 W/m²) exceeds the radiative contribution of black carbon (0.163 W/m²).

https://phys.org/news/2026-05-wildfire-dark-brown-carbon-strong.html

#ClimateScience

Nice paper in #Nature by #MattiaBessone and colleagues on the patterns and consequences of #WildMeat #consumption in #CentralAfrica

#OpenAccess

"Using data from over 12,000 #households from 252 locations in Central Africa, it is clear that wild meat is a fundamental component of the #diets of #rural populations, accounting for 20% of the recommended daily #protein intake, compared with 13% and 6% for those living in towns and cities. The total annual #biomass of wild meat consumed in Central Africa increased from 0.73 million to 1.10 million tonnes between 2000 and 2022, with increasing demand from towns and cities. To ensure that wild meat is available to rural communities, in accordance with the #SustainableDevelopmentGoals and the #KunmingMontrealGlobalBiodiversityFramework, reducing wild meat consumption in urban metropolises is key."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10422-w

🌍 Day 3 of #eMRS2026 starts with INAM presenting for PeCATHS:

🍃 “Preliminary Sustainability Assessment of Green Production via Integrated LOHC Storage and Biomass Oxidation”

🎤 Presented by Rosario Vidal.

💡 A valuable contribution to the discussion on sustainable energy systems, hydrogen storage, and biomass utilization.

#eMRS #GreenHydrogen #Sustainability #LOHC #Biomass

Burning biomass for energy is causing air pollution, health problems, & deforestation. Burning releases carbon & contributes immediately to warming: a carbon debt that may be repaid over decades, or never. No simple solution here! 🔥
https://www.mekongeye.com/2026/05/11/biomass-air-pollution

#MekongEye #biomass #carbon #RenewableEnergy #pollution #Thailand

Visiting #Finland.
Very friendly people. #Helsinki is very nice. But all the #wood behind me is going to be burnt in power plants or district heating. Some of the trunks are amazing: large, straight, no mould, prime condition.

But they're birches. Or aspens. And there's a market for them as fuel, because the EU's renewable energy policy pushes Member States to subsidise energy companies burning wood. In Finland, those benefit from a big tax break.

This is a #climate crime scene.

#biomass

#ESA:
"
Stunning images from Biomass mark its one year in orbit
"
".. present a selection of striking images captured over the past 12 months, revealing Earth’s forests, and much more, in new detail. .."

https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Biomass/Stunning_images_from_Biomass_mark_its_one_year_in_orbit

29.4.2026

#Biomass #EO #Erdbeobachtung #Radar #Raumfahrt #SAR #Satelliten #SpaceFlight