Global Fire Map 

Fires can take place just about anywhere on the planet, but some locales seem more prone to fires than others. Observations from space have shown that approximately 70% of the world’s fires occur in Africa alone. 

This visualization shows fires across the globe between July 2002 and July 2011, and includes vegetation and snow cover data to show how fires respond to seasonal change. Fires can result from either natural processes, such as ignition by lighting strikes; or human activity, such as burning vegetation for agricultural purposes. As an example, almost all of the fires in the Amazon are the direct result of human activity, including slash-and-burn agricultural techniques. Instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites detect fires from space. 


For more information: 
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3868 

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