Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Earth Observatory Collection
Title:
Smog over the Bay of Bengal
Description:
Against the arcing backdrop of the Himalaya Mountains (top of image), rivers of grayish haze follow the courses of the Ganges River and its tributaries (left) and the Brahmaputra River (right) on February 1, 2006. The plumes appear to combine like their watery counterparts and flow out together over the Bay of Bengal past the Mouths of the Ganges, the multi-pronged delta of the river along the Bangladesh coast. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

Scientists studying the cloud of haze that frequently lingers over parts of Asia from Pakistan to China and even the Indian and Pacific Oceans have called the pollution the “Asian Brown Cloud.” The mix of aerosols (tiny particles suspended in the air) includes smoke from agricultural and home heating and cooking fires, vehicle exhaust, and industrial emissions. In addition to the respiratory problems the persistent haze can cause, it also appears to hinder crops by blocking sunlight and could be altering regional weather.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
Satellite - Sensor:
Terra- MODIS
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Terra
facet_where:
China
facet_where:
Bangladesh
facet_where:
Bay of Bengal
facet_where:
Pakistan
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_when:
February 1, 2006
facet_when_year:
2006
UID:
SPD-ETOBS-13341
original url:

Smog over the Bay of Bengal