3 min readNew DelhiAug 28, 2019 09:58 AM IST
First published on: Aug 27, 2019 at 04:34 PM IST
In the satellite images, the region of central Africa is seen with more fires than that of Amazon. (Image source: NASA FIRMS)
When most of the people from across the world are concerned about the forest fires in Amazon and its impact on the global environment, some are questioning how it compares with other forest fires and the results are shocking! The global environmental issue has led environmentalists and other people to look out at NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System’s (FIRMS) fire map, which shows the heatmap of forest fires across the world.
In these NASA satellite images, the region of central Africa is seen with more fires than that of Amazon. Entire central Africa is seen having an alarming red blot which is presently way more than that of Amazon. The images are taken from NASA’s Aqua satellite.
According to a recent Weather Source data reported by news agency Bloomberg, last week Angola had around three times more forest fires than that in Brazil. As per the data quoted by Bloomberg, there were 6,902 fires in Angola over a period of 48 hours and 3,395 fires in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In comparison, Brazil had 2,127 fires during the same period.
The recent outrage across the world has been triggered because of more than 26,000 forest fires that have been recorded in the Amazon so far this month — the highest number in a decade, according to a report by The New York Times.
The fires in Amazon forests were one of the key agendas of the Group of 7 leaders who met in Biarritz in France during the past weekend. The meeting hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron where G7 countries pledged to earmark $20 million for providing help to Brazil for bringing these fires under control.
Coming to the central African region now, this area too holds a key for the climate. The stretch of forests at Congo Basin is also referred to as the second green lung of the Earth after the Amazon forests. There is a forest cover of 3.3 million square kilometres which is spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and a few other central African nations.
Also Read|Leonardo DiCaprio’s Earth alliance fund to donate 5 million dollars in aid amid Amazon fires
Both Amazon and Congo basin forests are important for combatting climate change and recent fires are likely to impact the global environment.
In the satellite images, the region of central Africa is seen with more fires than that of Amazon. (Image source: NASA FIRMS)
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