Africa is the “Burning Continent”

 

July 23, 2005 (HDW) South Africa - Scientists often call Africa “the burning continent” because Africans have used fire for thousands of years to manage their agricultural lands. The area of the continent experiencing widespread fire shifts with the seasons. The image above, taken by a NASA satellite on 18 July 2005 caught many of these man made fires from space.

 

This image shows the area west and south of Lake Tanganyika (upper right). It shows parts of Democratic Republic of Congo (top and center), Zambia (lower right), and Angola (lower left). Active fires detected by the satellite are marked with red dots.

 
 
 

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