image: Wildfires in Eastern Russia have been getting worse by year by year as climate change creates a hotter, drier environment. In a cycle of action/reaction the more climate change causes wildfires, the more wildfires break out, and the more climate change worsens as the fuels burned by these wildfires create havoc with the atmosphere. Worldwide wildfires are releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than they took in, increasing the planet's greenhouse gas footprint and contributing to the downward spiral of climate change. Some wildfires are necessary to continue a cycle of rebirth and regrowth for forest ecosystems but the number and intensity of fires breaking out have overreached what is necessary to keep a forest healthy. The number of wildfires that break out and the acreage of forest area burned is unprecedented. The U.S. Global Change Research Program released its report in late 2018 and within that report a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences was referenced that estimated that the amount of acreage burned by wildfires between 1985 to 2015 more than doubled due to climate change effects from 12 million to over 25 million acres.
NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now." Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. NASA's Suomi NPP satellite collected this natural-color image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on February 21, 2019. Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from the National Academy of Science report
Credit: Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from the National Academy of Science report