Central Africa fires cause hazy air
In the last few weeks, news of forest fires has repeatedly shaken the world. In Hawaii, a fire claimed more than 100 lives, in Brazil a large part of the Amazon was razed, in Europe entire holiday resorts on Greek islands are currently being destroyed by the fires. And if you take a look at the satellite images from NASA's FIRM (Fire Information for Resource Management System), most fires in the world are raging in Central Africa.These fires are currently stretching like a red chain from Angola across the Congo and Mozambique to Madagascar. The extent is alarming, but is often needed in these regions.
Thousands of people descend on the African savanna every August and intentionally set fire to dry grasslands. These large-scale fires are sometimes a welcome event in the dry season. Nutrients are released from the dead plants and returned to the soil, and the land is cleared to allow new grass to grow, NASA Earth observatory researchers explain in a study.
Animals are dependent on the restoration of the land. Although the fires are vital to life in Africa, they also have a downside in the form of pollution. A dense cloud of smoke chokes the sky for weeks each year during fire season. The gases react with the heat and form ozone. This can lead to a range of respiratory diseases, destroy lung tissue and cause severe damage to crops.
In Namibia, FIRM is currently reporting fires mostly in the north-east (Kavango and Zambezi), resulting in hazy skies across the region.
According to the Windy.com radar and photos on Facebook, a fire has also been raging on the B6 between Seeis and the Hosea Kutako International Airport northeast of Windhoek in recent days. The prevailing easterly wind brought the smoke into the city yesterday, which explains the current hazy air.