Images such as this one from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured on July 18, 2005, make it clear why scientists often call Africa “the burning continent.” Africans have used fire for thousands of years to manage their agricultural lands, and the area of the continent experiencing widespread fire shifts with the seasons.
This image shows the area west and south of Lake Tanganyika (upper right). It shows parts of Democratic Republic of Congo (top and center), Zambia (lower right), and Angola (lower left). Active fires detected by MODIS are marked with red dots.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC.
