By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL
Somewhere, Earth is burning. That inflammatory statement (pun intended!) merely means that fire is a natural part of the environment of our planet. Of course, humans contribute their share as well, and investigating the effect of these fires is a goal of Dr. Douglas Morton at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Morton is a specialist in the rainforest ecosystem, and he uses NASA's constellation of Earth observing satellites to study fires from space.
Dr. Morton presented to 159 INSPIRE OLC members about the effect of fires contributing to atmospheric carbon and its role in climate change. All the fires in the world contribute as much carbon to the atmosphere as petroleum based vehicles. Most of these are natural, the result of weather conditions and lightning. But in some areas, most notably the Amazon rain forest, clearing of land by fire for agriculture has reduced the size of the forest and contributed to carbon and aerosol pollution in the region.
Next week, continuing with this month's Earth theme, we bring back Steve Zornetzer of the Ames Research Center in California. Mr. Zornetzer will present "NASA Going Green", how NASA is upgrading it's facilities to meet new energy and environmental standards. Sign up now on the OLC Discussion Board, then join us at 8:00pm CT Thursday, October 20. See you then!
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