4 ms·

I'm surprised by the amount of NO2 present in the Atlanic off the west coast of Ireland. Given the prevailing winds, that must all be coming from the US. Or may

• kaybe 6y ago
  I'd suspect ships (though I'm not sure what you mean when I look at the map). Tropospheric NO2 is usually not transported that far, although we do measure transported US pollution in Europe.
  • secondcoming 6y ago
    99.9% of the time the wind in Ireland comes from the south west. I'd have that area would have been as 'clean' as the air around Iceland. There is a flight path over that area though[0], or as you suggested, it's possibly more likely to be shipping[1]. (That might explain the haze around the English channel too) [0] https://www.flightradar24.com/40.32,-36.32/4 https://www.flightradar24.com/40.32,-36.32/4 [1] https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-12.0/centery:25.0/zoom:4 https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-12.0/cent...
    • DoingIsLearning 6y ago
      You can see the same pattern as in the English Channel, in the Antwerp and Rotterdam areas. My guess is higher traffic of ships probably running at lower speeds (higher concentration of gases in the same volume). Ships are also meant to change from crude bunker fuel (which spews really high concentrations of SO2) to finner diesel fuel (which spews high concentrations of NO2) when they get closer to ports. It's a case of choose your poison with shipping, SO2 kills you now, NO2 kills you in the long run (it reduces human lifespan)
• reaperducer 6y ago
  Is there any offshore oil or gas drilling in that region?
  • secondcoming 6y ago
    No, Ireland has no real oil & gas industry.