August 22, 2021 - Fires in South America

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A thick shroud of smoke rose from hundreds of fires burning in Paraguay
and southern Brazil in late August, 2021, blowing south-southeastward
to completely hide a large swath of land from view. Using the NASA
Worldview app, a conservative measurement of the area completely
covered by smoke in this image alone is roughly 105,630 square miles
(274,000 square kilometers)—an area larger than the U.S. state of
Colorado.

On August 20, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image
of fire and smoke in South America. Most of the fires, marked by a red
hot spot, are concentrated in northeastern Paraguay, especially in the
Concepción Department. On August 21, Global Forest Watch (GFW) reports
that in the most recent four weeks of data collected from Concepción,
the region with the most significant burned was San Carolos, with 3.85
kilohectares burnt. The report continues, “This represents 67% of the
total area burned in Concepción and is unusually high compared to the
same period going back to 2001.”

The typical fire season, which is agricultural in nature, in this
region begins in full force by late July and lasts about 18 weeks.
Agricultural fires are used to manage land for crops or pasture and
includes clearing old crops, preparing new fields for planting, opening
forest land for new agricultural use, renewing pasture, and to meet
many other management needs. Fire is a traditional tool that is easy,
cheap and effective, but it comes with hazards such as intense smoke
that carries hazards to humans, animals, and the environment. Fire is
often a tool used in deforestation.

Soybeans and cassava are the major crops grown in this region and land
is widely used for pasture for cattle, which is an important export. A
new crop also appears to be gaining ground: marijuana. Local media
reported that in October 2020, the Ministry of Environment and
Sustainable Development stated that armed men were linked to marijuana
cultivation in Caazapá National Park and obstructed fire fighters. On
May 21, 2021, Monga Bay also reported that illegal marijuana
traffickers were expanding illegal marijuana plantations within San
Rafael National Park. Cattle and soybean continue to be the largest
drivers of deforestation in Paraguay and surrounding regions.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/20/2021
Resolutions: 1km (171.1 KB), 500m (597.6 KB), 250m (1.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-08-22

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