Wildfires are causing more low clouds to form over Southeast Asia.
This was determined by an international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz.
The scientists have compiled weather, satellite and emissions data and combined them with model calculations.
The soot particles that are produced when biomass is burned act as condensation nuclei, but also promote cloud formation by absorbing and scattering light.
According to the researchers in Southeast Asia, the latter effect plays the decisive role.
The increase in cloudiness there is similar to that over the Southeast Atlantic caused by fires in southern Africa, although emissions in Southeast Asia are significantly lower.
The low cloud can cool the climate and affect agriculture and solar power generation.
Link to study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26728-4