Devastating Amazon Fires Scorch Tropical Rainforest
Continuing Wildfires Ravage Heart of the Forest
Satellite Images Reveal Alarming Scale of Destruction
As wildfires continue to rage in the vast expanse of the Amazon rainforest, smoke billows into the sky, obscuring the once-verdant canopy. Satellite images captured by NASA's Suomi NPP satellite paint a grim picture of the destruction, revealing wide swaths of the forest reduced to smoldering embers.
In the absence of human activity, fires would not naturally occur in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The region's high humidity and rainfall render it too wet to sustain combustion, even during the driest seasons. However, for decades, satellites have tracked a disturbing trend: an increase in the number and intensity of fires in the Amazon.
Satellite images from Planet, a private space imaging company, provide a near real-time glimpse of the devastating fires. The images show vast areas of the rainforest consumed by flames, leaving behind charred and blackened landscapes. This year's fires have been particularly severe, with smoke reaching as far as the Atlantic coast of South America.
NASA's Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) has also captured imagery of the fires in the Amazon regions of Brazil and Bolivia. ECOSTRESS provides unprecedented transparency about the number and type of individual fires burning across the Amazon region, helping scientists and policymakers better understand the extent and impact of the blazes.
Comments