In early December 2002, a thick haze sat over the lowlands of northern India and Bangladesh. The above true-color image of the smog was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, flying aboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft. Notice the sharp contrast between the polluted air in Bangladesh and the clean air north of the Himalayan Mountains. The mountains keep the low-lying smog from heading north. The smog in the image is largely man made and is likely due to people cooking over open fires, driving cars with poor emissions control systems, and burning fallow fields and garbage.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
