Articles | Volume 25, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14551-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14551-2025
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
04 Nov 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 04 Nov 2025

Stratospheric impact of the anomalous 2023 Canadian wildfires: the two vertical pathways of smoke

Sergey Khaykin, Slimane Bekki, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Michael D. Fromm, Philippe Goloub, Qiaoyun Hu, Béatrice Josse, Alexandra Laeng, Mehdi Meziane, David A. Peterson, Sophie Pelletier, and Valérie Thouret

Related authors

Optical properties and global distribution of the Hunga aerosols 2022 observed by Aeolus and atmospheric lidars: new insights into the vertical sedimentation of stratospheric sulfate plumes
Dimitri Trapon, Holger Baars, Sebastian Bley, Albert Ansmann, Michael Rennie, Sergey Khaykin, and Michael Sicard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2575,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2575, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Global radiative forcing of stratospheric aerosols injected by the 2020 Australian extreme wildfire event
Raphaël Lebrun, Yevgeny Derimian, François Ravetta, Jérôme Bureau, and Sergey Khaykin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2006,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2006, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Implementation of a multiresolution analysis method to characterize multi-scale wave structures in lidar data
Samuel Trémoulu, Fabrice Chane Ming, Alain Hauchecorne, Sergey Khaykin, Mathieu Ratynski, and Philippe Keckhut
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1039–1058, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1039-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1039-2026, 2026
Short summary
The Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change at 35 Years: Achievements and Future Strategy
Irina Petropavlovskikh, Martine De Mazière, Anne M. Thompson, Jeannette D. Wild, James W. Hannigan, Henry B. Selkirk, Reem A. Hannum, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Roeland Van Malderen, Elizabeth Asher, Raul R. Cordero, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Daan Hubert, Sergey Khaykin, Karin Kreher, Thierry Leblanc, Emmanuel Mahieu, Eliane Maillard Barras, Glen McConville, Gerald Nedoluha, Ivan Ortega, Alberto Redondas Marrero, Gunther Seckmeyer, Ryan M. Stauffer, Sarah A. Strode, Kim Strong, Takafumi Sugita, Michel Van Roozendael, Voltaire Velazco, Corinne Vigouroux, and Baerbel Vogel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6557,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6557, 2026
Short summary
Global transport of stratospheric aerosol produced by Ruang eruption from EarthCARE ATLID, limb-viewing satellites and ground-based lidar observations
Sergey Khaykin, Michaël Sicard, Thierry Leblanc, Tetsu Sakai, Nickolay Balugin, Gwenaël Berthet, Stëphane Chevrier, Fernando Chouza, Artem Feofilov, Dominique Gantois, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Arezki Haddouche, Yoshitaka Jin, Isamu Morino, Nicolas Kadygrov, Thomas Lecas, Ben Liley, Richard Querel, Ghasssan Taha, and Vladimir Yushkov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 607–622, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-607-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-607-2026, 2026
Short summary

Cited articles

Allen, D. R., Fromm, M. D., Kablick III, G. P., and Nedoluha, G. E.: Smoke with Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL) in the Stratosphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 77, 4297–4316, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-20-0131.1, 2020. 
Allen, D. R., Fromm, M. D., Kablick III, G. P., Nedoluha, G. E., and Peterson, D. A.: Smoke with Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL) generated by the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday PyroCb plume, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 129, e2023JD040289, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040289, 2024. 
Ansmann, A., Baars, H., Chudnovsky, A., Mattis, I., Veselovskii, I., Haarig, M., Seifert, P., Engelmann, R., and Wandinger, U.: Extreme levels of Canadian wildfire smoke in the stratosphere over central Europe on 21–22 August 2017, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11831–11845, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11831-2018, 2018. 
Australian Government: Estimating greenhouse gas emissions from bushfires in Australia's temperate forests: Focus on 2019–20, Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/ estimating-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-bushfires-in-australias-temperate-forests-focus-on-2019-20.pdf (last access: 29 October 2025), 2020. 
Bechtold, P., Bazile, E., Guichard, F., Mascart, P., and Richard, E.: A mass-flux convection scheme for regional and global models, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 127, 869–886, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49712757309, 2001. 
Download
Editorial statement
This study is of particular relevance not only to the geoscientific community but also to the broader public and media, as it touches on wildfire resilience, atmospheric health, and climate feedbacks—all central to contemporary environmental discourse. It presents a timely and highly relevant analysis of the stratospheric effects of the record-breaking 2023 Canadian wildfire season—an event of global environmental and public interest. Using a combination of satellite, airborne, and ground-based observations, alongside chemistry-transport model simulations, the study uncovers a surprising and counterintuitive result: despite the extreme scale and intensity of the fires, the vertical reach of smoke into the stratosphere was relatively shallow.
Short summary
In 2023, massive wildfires in Canada injected huge amounts of smoke into the atmosphere. Surprisingly, despite their intensity, the smoke did not rise very high but lingered at flight cruising altitudes, causing widespread pollution. This study shows how two different pathways lifted smoke into the lower stratosphere and reveals new insights into how wildfires affect air quality and climate, challenging what we thought we knew about fire and atmospheric impacts.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint