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August 20, 2024 - North American Wildfire Smoke Reaches Europe
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Smoke from hundreds of North American wildfires crossed the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe in mid-August 2024.
Carried high in the atmosphere by the jet stream, the river of smoke stretched more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) from Western Canada to Finland. Social media and news articles reported brilliant red skies and gorgeous sunsets triggered by heavy smoke in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Fortunately, air quality degradation was not reported at ground level in Europe due to the gray haze remaining high in the atmosphere.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of smoke over Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Germany on August 18.
Most of the smoke likely comes from British Columbia, Alberta, and Northern Territories, Canada, where extremely intense fires have been spewing smoke into the atmosphere for months. However, fires are burning across every Canadian province as well as in the state of Alaska, United States. All of these fires likely make some contribution to the long river of high-atmosphere smoke seen in this image.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/18/2024
Resolutions:
1km (2.2 MB), 500m (5.4 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Smoke from hundreds of North American wildfires crossed the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe in mid-August 2024.
Carried high in the atmosphere by the jet stream, the river of smoke stretched more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) from Western Canada to Finland. Social media and news articles reported brilliant red skies and gorgeous sunsets triggered by heavy smoke in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Fortunately, air quality degradation was not reported at ground level in Europe due to the gray haze remaining high in the atmosphere.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of smoke over Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Germany on August 18.
Most of the smoke likely comes from British Columbia, Alberta, and Northern Territories, Canada, where extremely intense fires have been spewing smoke into the atmosphere for months. However, fires are burning across every Canadian province as well as in the state of Alaska, United States. All of these fires likely make some contribution to the long river of high-atmosphere smoke seen in this image.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/18/2024
Resolutions:
1km (2.2 MB), 500m (5.4 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
