Fires in Madagaskar
Fires inMadagascar
6 July 2005
Latest satellite scenes from fires burning in Madagascar:
Scattered fires (red dots) were burning across western Madagascar on 6 July2005, detected by the ModerateResolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. Alongthe coast, the islands characteristic reddish soils run off into the oceanand disperse in a greenish cloud
click on scene for a 250m resolution
TERRA
6 July 2005
7:00 hrs UTC
(Image courtesy MODIS)
Fires, both natural and human-caused, have burned seasonally dry parts of theisland with clockwork regularity for millennia, usually the result of firesintentionally lighted to encourage new grass growth. The fires are generallylighted on old pasturelands on the lower slopes and farther out on the rollinggrasslands of the high plateau.
An estimated 80 percent of the Madagascan flora is endemic.
Most of Madagascar’s fires are started by cowherds, cattle rustlers, hunters,farmers – or even by sparring political groups to demonstrate that their rivalsdo not have control of an area.
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