. When there is a large fire why is the sunset red?

Question

When there is a large fire like a forest fire, is the sunset red? Ash and smoke are white, gray, and black.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The ash and smoke cause the air to diffuse more light, but the absorption isn’t even. Blue wavelengths are absorbed more, red wavelengths less. This means the light bouncing around in the air that gets to you is way more reddish than normal.