How California Appears In Space As It Battles Some Of Its Fiercest Fires Yet
Image via Trevor Bexon / Shutterstock.com
From the Australian bushfires to Kobe Bryant’s death, Black Lives Matter outrage, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut blast, 2020 has presented itself as a year of unprecedented event upon unprecedented event, with little room to catch a break.
While California expects wildfires at this time of the year, these flames are especially ferocious. The Golden State is facing its second and third largest fires in history, simultaneously, alongside 500 other fires, Mashable reports.
Their devastating force is evident above the planet. New satellite and aerial images from California’s governor Gavin Newsom, the Colorado State University’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveal smoke and fire engulfing the state’s mountain, chaparral and desert regions because of its long and dry summers.
The fires are especially harsh due to climate change, combined with the state’s dry air, persistent heat wave, and its growingly parched greenery. According to the publication, California has seen 10 of its largest fires in the last 17 years, with the three greatest burning since 2018.
High resolution satellite imagery of wildfires burning last night in Northern California. pic.twitter.com/SodJKm9B1M
— CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) August 21, 2020
As the sun set yesterday, #GOESWest saw fires ignite and burn across the state of #California. The #CaliforniaWildfires recently intensified with the #LNUcomplexfire, which burned over 335 sq. miles in three days; currently, it is at 0% containment. pic.twitter.com/7Bh9aA9JSu
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) August 21, 2020
If you don’t believe in climate change, come to California.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 23, 2020
This is from today. And is just a small part of the nearly 600 fires we are battling this week. pic.twitter.com/iv4stV3Aax
The 2nd & 3rd largest fires in California history are simultaneously burning, right now. pic.twitter.com/V7SdrOgckT
— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) August 22, 2020
Siberia, California, Australia.
— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) August 22, 2020
The massive wildfires of 2020. pic.twitter.com/ithwTti9vN
Another way to view these fires, all in one gif. pic.twitter.com/dlTSian8g6
— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) August 22, 2020
[via Mashable, cover image via Trevor Bexon / Shutterstock.com]
