A Pandemic of Wildfire, Part 1

Images from space reveal the scope and intensity of 2020's burning season — from Siberia to the western United States.

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By Tom Yulsman
Aug 29, 2020 9:30 PMSep 1, 2020 10:20 PM
Siberian Wildfire
The Sentinel 2 satellite captured this image of wildfires raging in Russia's Sakha Republic on Aug. 18, 2020. (Credit: Copernicus Sentinel data, processed by Tom Yulsman using Sentinel Hub EO Browser)

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The blaze captured in the false-color satellite image above is just one small part of a much bigger wildfire, which is just one among hundreds that have scorched Siberia since winter ice and snow melted in May.

Meanwhile, half a world away, a brutally hot August in the western United States has fueled vicious fires in California, as well as in my own state of Colorado. In this post, and a Part 2 to follow, I'll share some remarkable remote sensing imagery of what I think is fair to call a pandemic of wildfire.

When the Sentinel 2 satellite flew over the intense Siberian wildfire above on Aug. 18, 2020, it was torching new territory on the eastern side of a wildfire complex that was twice the size of New York City. (For a bigger, better version of the image, go here.)

The Sentinel 2 satellite captured this false-color image of wildfires burning in Russia's Sakha Republic on Aug. 18, 2020. The recently burned area, visible in rusty tones, is about twice the size of New York City. It lies about 90 miles northwest of the town of Chernyshevsky. (Credit: Copernicus Sentinel 2 data processed by Tom Yulsman using Sentinel Hub EO Brownser)
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