In July, hundreds of firefighters are battling flames in Spain, Portugal and France.
A map from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) shows more wildfires: Red dots are scattered all over the world — essentially only the white areas of Greenland and Antarctica are excluded. Each of the dots marks a satellite-detected hotspot or active fire.
NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System shows red dots that indicate a satellite-detected hotspot or active fireImage: NASA FIRMS
With heat waves and droughts, wildfires are occurring more frequently worldwide.
They often starts quite unspectacularly — a discarded cigarette or a spark blown away from a campfire is enough to set dry leaves and small branches on fire. After that, quick action is important to extinguish the fire before it can set larger areas ablaze.
