Tracking fires in Europe part I: a visual guide

NASA confirmed that July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded. This statement comes together with that of the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: July was estimated to have been around 1.5° warmer than the pre-industrial average for 1850-1900.

United Nations says that the boiling era has begun, which will make heatwaves hotter and longer, making wildfires more common during summer months.

Wildfires are becoming more destructive, especially in southern Europe, as a consequence of drought and high temperatures. Last July, some places in Italy experienced temperatures as high as 48°.

Wildfires burned hectares not only in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal but also in Switzerland, Germany and France. The global phenomenon of El Niño just started this year, and it is expected to last a few years more, so it is very likely next summer months will come with more extreme heat.

NASA Firms is a handy tool that uses satellite observation from MODIS and VIIRS instrument to detect active fires and thermal anomalies.

It sends accurate information in nearly real-time. It's a good method to track possible wildfires before to use other satellite tools (such as Sentinel) to see the real impact of those wildfires.

Journalists and researcher are using NASA Firms to geolocalize wildfires, but also missile strikes in Ukraine and Russia.

Each red dot represents a hotspot. Not every hotspot is actually active fires. As the name says, they can be a heat anomaly.

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