While a dust storm blows out of the deserts of southern Afghanistan and Pakistan and southward down the Indus River Plain (image left), numerous active fires were burning in northwestern India in the shadow of the Himalaya (upper right). The widespread nature of the fires and the time of year suggest that they are being set intentionally for agricultural purposes. Though not necessarily hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. This image of the fires (marked in red) and the dust storm was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on October 9, 2004.
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Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
