The NASA space agency has published images of all the places where there are fires around the world in real time.
The published map shows all the places with dangerous fires where besides the island of Evia in Greece and Italy, dangerous fires are also in North and South America especially Zambia, Angola, Malawi and Madagascar.
NASA has also released footage of how the fire advanced on the island of Evia from August 3 to August 8. Initially it was only a small hearth then expanded to include large areas of the island.
NASA writes that in terms of Africa, although it is not possible to determine by satellite how a fire broke out, the spread, location and time suggest that the fires were intentional and were set for agricultural purposes. Farmers in these areas have used fire for thousands of years to clear old crops from their fields and prepare them for new ones, to burn shrubs, to renovate pastures or savannas.
Although fire is an efficient and economical way to manage land, especially in the African savannah where the ecosystem depends on periodic fires for its health, fires are sources of danger, such as smoke, greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem destruction. In Central Africa, NASA concludes, the fire season usually begins in May and reaches its peak in August.
