Fires are responsible for a range of gaseous and aerosol emissions. However, their influence on
the interannual variability of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols has not been systematically investigated
from a global perspective. We examine biomass burning emissions as a driver of interannual variability of
large-scale abundances of short-lived constituents such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydroxyl radicals (OH),
ozone, and aerosols using the Goddard Institute for Space Studies ModelE composition-climate model and a
range of observations, with an emphasis on satellite information. Our model captures the observed variability
of the constituents examined in most cases, but with substantial underestimates in boreal regions. The
strongest interannual variability on a global scale is found for carbon monoxide (~10% for its global annual
burden), while the lowest is found for tropospheric ozone (~1% for its global annual burden). Regionally,
aerosol optical depth shows the largest variability which exceeds 50%. Areas of strong variability of both
aerosols and CO include the tropical land regions (especially Equatorial Asia and South America) and northern
high latitudes, while even regions in the northern midlatitudes experience substantial interannual variability of
aerosols. Ozone variability peaks over equatorial Asia in boreal autumn, partly due to varying biomass burning
emissions, and over the western and central Pacific in the rest of the year, mainly due to meteorological
fluctuations. We find that biomass burning emissions are almost entirely responsible for global CO interannual
variability, and similarly important for OH variability. The same is true for global and regional aerosol variability,
especially when not taking into account dust and sea-salt particles. We show that important implications can
arise from such interannual influences for regional climate and air quality