Agricultural Fires in West Africa
January 20, 2008
In the grasslands and savannas of West Africa, the agricultural burning season takes place in Northern Hemisphere winter. Fires are widespread at this time, as people burn crop stubble, brush, and old pasture grasses.
This image shows hundreds of fires (red dots) detected by the MODIS on NASA's Aqua satellite when it captured this image on January 10, 2008. Although it is not necessarily immediately hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources.
