NASA Photo by Jim Ross Africa's natural beauty is everywhere. This is a baobab tree, which looks like its roots grow upside down. It flowers in the spring. By Beth Hagenauer and John Bluck Aerospace Projects Writer and Ames Public Affairs NASA and international scientists are studying African smog and its role in global change and tracking the movement of air pollution in the southern part of the continent. The southern African atmosphere is particularly vulnerable to air pollution due to a persistent high-pressure system there.
African smog is a soup of smokes from industry, mining, agricultural burning and other sources.
Flights and science activities are based in Pietersburg, Republic of South Africa. Dryden Mission Manager Walter Klein recently returned from South Africa and explained some of Dryden's role. The pollution is significant. The sub-Saharan countries have little or no control on burnings and at times they are literally burning 1 million acres daily. This time of year they are at the end of the dry season and heading into summer.