It's been ten years since Operation Desert Storm, which drove the Iraqi armies out of Kuwait. You may remember that on their way out, they torched dozens of oil wells. At the time, it was feared that the smoke from those fires would spread well beyond the Middle East and cause changes in climate. That didn't happen, but locally the thick clouds of smoke blackened the skies for weeks afterward.

Recently, the National Climatic Data Center released some newly enhanced satellite images of the Persian Gulf region during those fires. The images show dramatic scenes of billowing black smoke stretching hundreds of miles from the burning wells. You can see these images yourself at the following web site:

www.ncdc.noaa.gov

and clicking on "What's Hot." There's plenty of other climate data there as well.