There’s nothing that could be worse than a forest fire right? Wrong.
Scientists have discovered a new class of chemicals being emitted from burning pine trees. A team of researchers from the Pcaific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered close to 100 different alkaloids in microscopic smoke particles coming up from laboratory stimulated forest fires. Between 10 percent and 30 percent of the smoke was made up of tiny particles of nitrogen-containing organic compounds, or NOCs, a large group of chemicals to which alkaloids belong.
It is said that if enough of this alkaline is present it can start to make serious climate changes. So if we try to prevent forest fires, we not only help the climate problem by saving the trees, but we also help it by not emitting more toxic chemicals into the air.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30503774/
