Satellites watch France’s largest wildfire in 75 years
The satellite images reveal the scope of destruction in the south of France caused by the worst forest fire To strike the country in more than seven decades.
The fire was detected for the first time on August 5, near the city of Ribaute in the Aude region in southeast France. In less than four days, he transformed some 42,000 acres (17,000 hectares) of agricultural forests and land in ashes – a larger area than the French capital Paris.
The scope of the fire has been captured in dramatic images taken by Pléiades Neo high resolution satellites operated by the European Aerospace Giant Airbus.
In its advanced force, the fire devoured approximately 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares) of land per hour, stretched by strong winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea. Within two days of lighting, the fire devoured 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares). At least one person died and 13 other people were injured while the fire engulfed several villages in the wine region, According to the BBC.
Pléiades Neo imagesTaken the day after the start of the fire reveal bands of burned lands as well as hot spots and thick smoke plumes covering the earth. In some images, fire -fighting planes flying over the affected region can be seen.
The NASA Terra and Landsat 9 satellites spotted firerevealing its rapid progress. The terra image, obtained with the spectroradiometer of moderate resolution images (Modis), shows the situation in natural colors at 11:20 am, local time on August 6.
The false colors of Landsat 9, obtained an hour later, are a combination of short wave infrared, near the infrared and optical wavelengths, which allow it to reveal the freshly burned soil which would be otherwise obscured by a thick layer of smoke.
The firefighters mainly contained forest fires by Thursday evening August 7, According to Al JazeeraBut local authorities said it would take days to completely turn off the remaining burning points.
France officials have allocated the fire, the worst to have struck the country since 1949, to the worsening of climate change. According to Al Jazeera, the French popular Mediterranean coast of the Mediterranean coast of France has been particularly affected, recording more than 9,000 road eruptions since the start of the summer season.
The summer of 2025 promises to be one of the hottests ever recorded in Western Europe, the temperature recordings that were beaten in June, according to the EU environmental service Copernicus.
