Sulfur Dioxide Plume Moving Across Iraq, Satellite Images Show

New images released by NASA show a dangerous sulfur plume moving across northern Iraq in the wake of the battle to retake Mosul.

As the Iraq military announced its operation to capture Mosul, which has been under ISIS control for over two years, ISIS set fire to the Al-Mishraq sulfur plant and Qayyarah oil field south of the city in an effort to provide cover from coalition airstrikes, Yahoo News reported.
 

NASA said its ozone monitoring instruments detected a large sulfur dioxide plume dispersing across northern and central Iraq as early as last week. Initially, that sulfur dioxide was in lower parts of the atmosphere, but the plume has now reached higher into the atmosphere due to shifting winds.

“In the first few days, the fire did not appear to be particularly energetic and our preliminary observations suggest that much of the sulfur dioxide remained in the boundary layer and the lower troposphere, which accentuates the impact on air quality and health,” said Simon Carn, an atmospheric scientist at Michigan Tech. ”More recently, sulfur dioxide has been lofted to higher altitudes where it may undergo long-range transport.”

Growing concentrations of sulfur dioxide can impair breathing and even be life threatening. Al Jazeera reported that two people have already died from breathing in the sulfur, and hundreds have been taken to a nearby hospital with respiratory problems.

Civilians south of Mosul who were interviewed by al-Mawsleya TV wore masks and scarves to cover their faces from the toxic gas.

As a precautionary measure, the U.S. military said Saturday it has taken air samples to analyze the smoke. Coalition personnel at Camp Swift and Qayyarah West Airfield, about 50 miles south of Mosul, have been directed to limit their outdoor activity, and some have voluntarily chosen to wear protective gas masks, according to a military press releas