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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.

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 ...

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