Global biomass burning: Atmospheric, climatic and biospheric implications

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Abstract
Over the last decade, it has become increasingly apparent that the trace gas composition of the atmosphere is changing with time. These changes include the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, the chlorofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone), which may lead to a global warming and the chemical destruction and depletion of stratospheric ozone (90% of the total atmospheric ozone is in the stratosphere, with the remaining 10% in the troposphere), which absorbs biologically lethal solar ultraviolet (200–300 nm) radiation. In addition, tropospheric concentrations of chemically active nitric oxide and carbon monoxide are also increasing with time, as is acidic precipitation. These changes in the trace gas composition of the atmosphere and their environmental consequences have become areas of great national and international concern.