Comments on: Western US wildfires, as seen from space

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 21:50:00 +0000

People don’t get the scale of these things. I’ve watched fires in Southern California that were 50 miles away and I could quite distinctly see the flames leaping up.

By: BonzoDog1

BonzoDog1 — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:24:00 +0000

It’s not getting much press, but on Tuesday someone on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana dropped a match (or somesuch) and 24 hours later 172 square miles had been burned over.

By: celestegrace

celestegrace — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:31:00 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I can see flames from my house here in Colorado, and I feel like images like this help to give a little context to people who aren’t directly experiencing the craziness here.

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:13:00 +0000

@NathanHornby:disqus Yeah, it rains a lot in the UK. We get that. Our obsessions tend to be more along the lines of “will the weather bring death with it today?” more than “when the fuck are we ever going to see the sun again?”

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:56:00 +0000

Oh, my friend, I’m British; we’re all about the weather. But if you looked at a satellite view of the UK you’d probably think the whole island was on fire (but in that case they really would just be clouds).

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:54:00 +0000

I guess Usians are just a little more weather obsessed. The smoke plume jumped right out of the image at me.

Xeni, if you’re reading this thread, you’re NASA link is dead. Correct address is: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/index.html

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:37:00 +0000

Ooooh, that makes a lot more sense. In my defence that’s grey, not brown; so I was looking at the brown stuff (so I’d assumed the grey stuff was just clouds).

Thanks for the context!

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:31:00 +0000

The whispy, darkish grey stuff at the top middle portion of the photo.

By: BonzoDog1

BonzoDog1 — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:04:00 +0000

If you think we have a problem, check out central Russia:
http://earthsky.org/earth/view-from-space-wildfires-in-colorado-and-central-russia

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:16:00 +0000

Now that’s a picture I didn’t pull out of the internet tonight, I’ve had it in a folder for nine years.
Points of origin of fires are represented by red dots, in that particular 2003 wind event, fires generated from so many points, red dots turn into godawful smears.

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:14:00 +0000

@Xeni:twitter , living in LA, you remember the 2003 Santa Anas.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:05:00 +0000

Is this like a magic eye?

‘Brownish blanket’ pretty accurately describes the US from space on a good day, so what am I looking for here?

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 06:39:00 +0000

The link needs some help.

Also: the USGS has some cooler images from LANDSAT satellites: http://eros.usgs.gov/#/About_Us/Views_of_the_News

Because LANDSAT’s sensors are not mere optical cameras you can extract various data from the imagery. They’ve highlighted the areas that are burned, and you can see in the images some of the areas that are currently burning.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 05:10:00 +0000

I didn’t realize how much pot I smoked the other night. My God.

By: Theranthrope

Theranthrope — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Between this and the year without a winter (in my local; Southern Nevada in the USA, it was warmer during Nov-Dec-Jan than it was in May and May unremarkable temperature-wise), it sure is getting Global-Warming outside…

By: perch

perch — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:46:00 +0000

It’s intense if you’re driving anywhere near a fire at night, it truly appears as if entire mountainsides are on fire. Which they are.

By: technobach

technobach — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:42:00 +0000

Am I the only one who expected more red?

By: perch

perch — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:41:00 +0000

I’m chilling right here in Denver, thankfully unaffected other than it being hazy around here quite often. And red.

The entire southwest is really just ready to burst into flames. Has been for a while. These fires are going to continue to burn, and more to come, as a result of 100 years of fire suppression.