Imagine orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth and seeing your home planet below — up in smoke.
That was the reality recently for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) who captured this image of the volcano Mount Rainier covered in smoke from nearby wildfires.
What is it?
This past July, hundreds of wildfires devastated a number of regions across Canada. But unfortunately, this was not the end of wildfires decimating North America this summer.
Recently, wildfires have spread across Washington and Oregon, burning over 84,000 acres (34,000 hectares) as of Aug. 12, according to NASA.
This image, captured by astronauts aboard the ISS, shows smoke blowing from wildfires in central and eastern Washington to the volcano Mount Rainier. The astronauts also captured imagery of Mt. Hood about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south. With Mt. Hood, you can also see thick plumes of smoke coming from the Grasshopper fire, which was ignited by a lightning strike.
Why is it incredible?
This is the worst fire season the Pacific Northwest has seen in over 30 years, CNN has reported. The wildfires have forced many to evacuate their homes, shut down major roads and more. In addition to the immediate dangers presented by the wildfires themselves, as we can see from these images, the smoke from the fires extends far and wide and has created unhealthy air quality levels.
As of Wednesday (Aug. 12), over 2.7 million acres (1.1 million hectares) had already burned, and by Friday (Aug. 14), the region still had dozens of uncontained wildfires, CNN reported.
And higher-than-normal risk for fires to continue through the month of August are expected, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
While tackling the problem of wildfires — which is increasing as climate change worsens — takes place on Earth, we can learn a lot from seeing things from above. The vantage point of outer space allows for views like this, which can give a larger perspective. And satellite views can provide even more in-depth information to support wildfire fighting activities back on Earth.
