Fire map timeline and patterns of the last 20 years

On Earth, something is always burning, says NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). In particular, wildfires are started by lightning or accidentally by people, and people use controlled fires to manage farmland and pasture and clear natural vegetation for farmland.

   Experts from NASA state that fires can generate large amounts of smoke pollution, release greenhouse gases, and unintentionally degrade ecosystems. However, fires can also clear away dead and dying underbrush, which can help restore an ecosystem to good health.

   Furthermore, it is critical to understand that there are global patterns that appear in the fire maps over time as the result of natural cycles of rainfall, dryness, and lightning.

   For instance, across Africa, a band of widespread agricultural burning sweeps north to south over the continent as the dry season progresses each year.

   According to NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System map, and the NASA’s Earth Observatory publication of historic fire data across the world, we can see that fires are the new normal, and we have to find ways to fight them on a year-to-year basis.

   Countries across the northern hemisphere this summer (2021) are experiencing the worst wildfires in years of recorded history. Climate change is crucial for the fires, making hot and dry conditions that allow fires to catch and spread more common and more intense.