November 2, 2024

California Continues To Burn – More Than 7000 Wildfires, Burning Over 900,000 Hectares

The map on the left shows wildfire hotspots along the US West Coast in 2021. Even more north, a variety of Canadian Provinces, including British Columbia, have actually likewise been experiencing intense fires given that completion of June.
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission has actually been utilized to image the fires. The Sentinel-2 satellites each carry just one instrument– a high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands. Caught on 1 September, the smoke and burn scars of the Caldor and Dixie Fires show up in this image.
According to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), smoke from the fires in North America has been transferred throughout the continent and out over the Atlantic Ocean towards Europe yet is not likely to impact Europeans as it is high up in the atmosphere. The smoke has, however, impacted air quality across the US and Canada, where it was much closer to the surface area.
The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite is devoted to monitoring air pollution by determining a plethora of trace gases that affect the air we breathe. Images captured on 30 August reveal the existence of aerosols in the atmosphere brought on by the fires. The plumes continued their journey eastwards, across the United States even reaching Europe.
California fires caught by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 objective. Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021 ), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
Claus Zehner, ESAs Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission supervisor, states, “Copernicus satellites like Sentinel-5P, sentinel-2 and sentinel-3 permit on one hand the point source detection of fires, and on the other hand, to keep an eye on the movement of the produced air pollutants over various states in the United States and even to another continent like Europe.”.
As the fires continue to burn, dry and hot conditions and anticipated thunderstorms have actually triggered officials to release cautions through part of the states northwest coast.
The Dixie megablaze, the largest wildfire of the 2021 fire season and the second-largest blaze in documented state history, has burned more than 388 000 hectares of generally forested land and has actually destroyed more than 1200 structures on its path. The fire, named after the roadway where is begun, started on 13 July in the Feather River Canyon, and since 14 September, is just 75% contained. Credit: ESA (Data: CAL FIRE).
Climate modification is considered a key driver of this pattern. In a current report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scientists concluded that there is an unequivocal link between human activity and worldwide warming. The report pointed to observations revealing increases in drought and fires in the western United States, anticipating this pattern to continue in the future.
The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite recorded the presence of aerosols triggered by the ongoing wildfires in California on 30 August. The plumes of particles have actually been swept eastwards brought on by western winds, even reaching Europe. Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021 ), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

While wildfires are a natural part of Californias landscape, an extreme drought, coupled with extreme temperature levels, have actually sustained numerous significant fires for much of August. The information has actually been drawn out from NASAs Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) which uses information from NASAs Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites and NASAs Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) and NOAA-20 satellites. Caught on 1 September, the smoke and burn scars of the Caldor and Dixie Fires are visible in this image.
The Dixie megablaze, the largest wildfire of the 2021 fire season and the second-largest blaze in recorded state history, has actually burned more than 388 000 hectares of generally forested land and has damaged more than 1200 buildings on its path. Credit: ESA (Data: CAL FIRE).

The Dixie megablaze, the largest wildfire of the 2021 fire season and the second-largest blaze in taped state history, has burned more than 388 000 hectares of mainly forested land and has actually ruined more than 1200 buildings on its path. The fire, called after the road where is begun, started on 13 July in the Feather River Canyon, and as of September 14, is only 75% included.
Fire hotspots along the US West Coast. The information has been drawn out from NASAs Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) which uses information from NASAs Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites and NASAs Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) and NOAA-20 satellites. Credit: ESA (Data: NASA FIRMS).
With thousands of firemens continuing to battle the blaze, several were diverted to assist harness the close-by Caldor Fire which has burned more than 88 700 hectares, threatening neighborhoods near Lake Tahoe prior to crossing the states border over to Nevada.

While wildfires are a natural part of Californias landscape, a serious dry spell, combined with severe temperatures, have sustained numerous significant fires for much of August. As of 6 September, more than 7000 wildfires have actually been recorded, burning over 860 000 hectares throughout the state. Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021 ), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
While wildfires are a natural part of Californias landscape, a severe drought, coupled with extreme temperature levels, have sustained numerous major fires for much of August. As of September 14, more than 7000 wildfires have been taped, burning over 900,000 hectares across the state.