Fires continued burning around Moscow on August 7, 2010, forcing airports to delay flights, and prompting locals to stay indoors or venture out only with gauze masks, Bloomberg reported. Carbon monoxide levels in the capital city were several times the maximum allowable limit. Meanwhile, firefighters fought 577 fires covering 193,516 hectares (747 square miles).
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on August 7. Red outlines indicate actively burning fires, and multiple fires cluster east of Moscow, many of them sending their smoke right over the city. Smoke almost completely hides the land surface throughout this scene.
High temperatures contributed to tinder-dry conditions along the Volga River, and Bloomberg reported that temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) would continue to plague central Russia for at least another day.
References & Resources
- Levitov, M. (2010, August 7). Moscow choked by smoke as forest, peat-bog fires spread, delaying flights. Bloomberg. Accessed August 7, 2010.
NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Michon Scott.
