ENVIRONMENTAL-EFFECTS FROM BURNING OIL-WELLS IN KUWAIT

Model calculations, constrained by satellite observations, indicate that most of the smoke from the oil fires in Kuwait will remain in the lowest few kilometres of the troposphere. Beneath the plume there is a severe reduction in daylight, and a daytime temperature drop of approximately 10-degrees-C within approximately 200 km of the source. Episodic events of acid rain and photochemical smog will occur within approximately 1,000-2,000 km of Kuwait. But changes in the Asian summer monsoon are unlikely to exceed the natural interannual variability and stratospheric ozone concentrations are unlikely to be affected.