September 13, 2015
After a fierce summer of burning, fires still linger around Lake Baikal.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey . Caption by Adam Voiland.
Russians normally flock to the shores of Lake Baikal during the summer to camp and enjoy spectacular views of the world’s deepest freshwater lake. In summer 2015, such views were frequently obscured by smoke.
For months, fires have raged around the lake, inspiring observers to use words like “catastrophic” and “doomsday” to describe the damage to forests surrounding it.
The Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 captured this natural-color image of a few fires still lingering around the western shore of Lake Baikal on September 13, 2015. Note the charred, blackened vegetation west of the largest smoke plume.
References & Resources
- The Siberian Times (2015, August 23) Baikal on fire — “it feels like doomsday’ Accessed September 18, 2015.
- The Siberian Times (2015, September 2) Wildfires around Lake Baikal are ‘close to catastrophic’, say WWF. Accessed September 18, 2015.
- The Siberian Times (2015, August 27) The destruction wrought by wildfires around Lake Baikal leaves physical—and emotional—scars. Accessed September 18, 2015.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey . Caption by Adam Voiland.
