Tim Durkan, a resident of Seattle, captured several pictures
of the sunset overhead Seattle on Sunday. The Pacific Northwest has recently
been experiencing a number of dramatic and fiery sunsets, caused by wildfires
in Siberia. The fires were started when some farmers were burning grass in
their fields and the fires became out of control due to the wind. The fires rapidly
spread throughout southeastern Siberia, destroying several villages, but were quickly suppressed.
Atmospheric winds picked up the smoke hanging around from the fires and carried
it to the Pacific Northwest. The wind, smoke, and solar light are linking
together to create the intense sunsets. The smoke particles filter out shorter
wavelength colors from the sunlight. This pretty much means that cold colors
such as blue or purple are not allowed through the atmosphere filtered while
warm colors, such as red or orange or yellow-which make up intense sunsets- are
more illuminated by sunlight. They are
specially seen at sunsets or sunrises because there is more atmosphere for the
light to pass through. The great sunsets and sunrises will eventually come back
to normal as the smoke depletes.
I chose this article because I remember learning from my
brother that sunsets get really “dramatic,” when a volcano erupts and the ash
gets dispensed in the air. I never really thought that a forest fire could do
that too. I think it’s pretty cool how our atmosphere works and how certain
things can either illuminate or hide certain colors. I don’t necessarily understand
the exact ways it works because I couldn’t get it in chemistry class, but it’s
still interesting.
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