Fires in Central and Southern Africa

Fires in Central and Southern Africa

In central Africa, hundreds, possibly thousands of fires were burning in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia on June 10, 2006. This image of the area from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows locations where the sensor detected active fires marked in red. Widespread agricultural burning such as this is common in Africa, and it is not necessarily immediately hazardous. Nevertheless, the fires and smoke can have a significant impact on climate, human health, and natural resources.

NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC.