Australia has more wildfire hot spots than Brazil and Indonesia

10 December 2019

Published by https://www.straitstimes.com/

USA – WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) – Australian wildfires have generated more hot spots in the past two days than any other country – more than double the number in Brazil – and the intensity of the blazes is greater than the rest of the world combined, according to Nasa satellite data.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellites detected 5,748 hot spots in Australia over the past 48 hours, more than the total number found in Brazil, Indonesia and India.

The US space agency operates MODIS sensors aboard orbiting satellites that circle the globe every two days and capture data about the Earth’s surface and atmosphere.

In areas with wildfires, the instruments also measure the fire radiative power, an estimate of intensity of the blaze.

The radiative power emitted from Australia is currently stronger than the rest of the world combined.

Smoke blanketed Sydney on Tuesday (Dec 10), with parts of the city recording air pollution levels 12-times higher than those deemed “hazardous”.