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Science 4 March 1994:
Vol. 263. no. 5151, pp. 1255 - 1257
DOI: 10.1126/science.263.5151.1255
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Articles

Emission of Methyl Bromide from Biomass Burning

Stein Manö 1 and Meinrat O. Andreae 1

1 Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Post Office Box 3060, D-55020 Mainz, Germany

Bromine is, per atom, far more efficient than chlorine in destroying stratospheric ozone, and methyl bromide is the single largest source of stratospheric bromine. The two main previously known sources of this compound are emissions from the ocean and from the compound's use as an agricultural pesticide. Laboratory biomass combustion experiments showed that methyl bromide was emitted in the smoke from various fuels tested. Methyl bromide was also found in smoke plumes from wildfires in savannas, chaparral, and boreal forest. Global emissions of methyl bromide from biomass burning are estimated to be in the range of 10 to 50 gigagrams per year, which is comparable to the amount produced by ocean emission and pesticide use and represents a major contribution (ap30 percent) to the stratospheric bromine budget.

Submitted on September 7, 1993
Accepted on December 15, 1993


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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S. E. McCauley, A. H. Goldstein, and D. J. DePaolo (1999)
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Atmospheric Methyl Bromide (CH3Br) from Agricultural Soil Fumigations.
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A Net Sink for Atmospheric CH3Br in the East Pacific Ocean.
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Fires, Atmospheric Chemistry, and the Ozone Layer.
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