Lower Atmosphere

Basics

1. Vegetationfires

Worksheet 1

Apart from wildfire, which can be caused by lightning or eruption of volcanoes, there are nowadays many fires induced by humans, in some cases set off by carelessness or even arson, but often due to systematic and continuous landuse change from forest land into farmland.

The following link shows you all wildfires around the globe: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=fire

This picture and the list below show you 9 days in Summer 2003 (July 26th - August 4th):

9 days of Fires in Summer 2003 (July 26th - August 4th), author: NASA, internet image source: 
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=fire

Fires: Forest Fires in Portugal

Central Portugal is being overtaken by forest fires burning out of control in hot, dry conditions on August 3 and 4, 2003.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_
hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11135]

Fires: Missouri Breaks Complex Fire
In eastern Montana, the Missouri Breaks Complex Fire burned more than 100,000 acres in late July 2003. This image of the charred landscape was captured by ASTER on August 2. 4
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11137]

Fires: Fires in Western Canada
Ten thousand people have been evacuated from their homes in parts of Canada over the first week of August, as wildfires blaze across the country. This Terra MODIS image shows fires in western Canada on August 3, 2003.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11133]

Fires: Fires in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay
Hundreds of fires were detected across South America by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 1, 2003
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11132]

Fires: Fires in Montana and Alberta
This high-resolution Landsat image from July 28, 2003, shows the fires in and around Glacier National Park, Montana.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11134]

Fires: Fires in Siberia
Dozens of fires were burning across Siberia on August 4, 2003, creating a thick blanket of smoke over the region.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11128]

Fires: Fawn Peak Complex Fire in Washington
The Fawn Peak Complex Fire turned in on itself, and as of July 30 had begun burning previously unburned sections with the fire’s perimeter. This image is from Terra MODIS on July 30, 2003.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=10849]

Fires: Forest Fire in Southern France
Forest fires swept through scenic woodlands along the French Riviera in the last week of July 2003.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=10843]

Fires: Fires in Arizona and New Mexico
On July 26, ASTER captured this high-resolution image of the Aspen Fire burn scar northeast of Tucson, Arizona.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=10842]

Fires: Fires in Southern Italy
Dozens of fires were detected across southern Italy and Sicily on July 24, 2003.
[internet source:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural
_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=10834]

Exercise:
Print out this worksheet and write the right name of the 10 places (forest fires listed above) into the white boxes!

image source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=fire
(modiefied by Julia Heres)

About this page:

Author: Dr. Schleicher - University of Nürnberg - Germany
1.  scientific reviewing: Dr. Jörg Trentmann, University of Washington, Seattle - 2004-01-27
2. scientific reviewing: Dr. Pascal Guyon, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz - 2004-05-10
educational reviewing: Dr. Schrettenbrunner / J. Heres
last update: 2004-02-17