Haze over Eastern China

Haze hangs over eastern China, particularly in the lowlands between ridges of hills and mountains and across the coastal plain by the mouth of the Yangtze River. The haze is likely a combination of dust and air pollution. In winter in China, poor air quality often the result of a temperature inversion that causes a layer of cold, dense air to become trapped beneath a more buoyant layer of warm air. As long as the temperature inversion persists, pollution builds in the trapped pocket of air near the ground.

Haze over Eastern China captured on December 28, 2012 by MODIS/Aqua satellite (Credit: LANCE/MODIS)

 

Source: Earth Snapshots