Biomass Burning in Central and South America

The biomass burning in Central and south America appears firmly underway in this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from the Aqua satellite on May 8, 2003. Thousands of fires were detected by MODIS across Democratic Republic of Congo (top) and Angola (bottom) and are marked with red dots. The top of the image is clouded with smoke.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

South America is a continent in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is how it is viewed in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas. The reference to South America instead of other regions (like Latin America or the Southern Cone) has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics (in particular, the rise of Brazil).additional citation needed. Biomass Burning in Central and South America is very common.

It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. It includes twelve sovereign states (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela), a part of France (French Guiana), and a non-sovereign area (the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory though this is disputed by Argentina). In addition to this, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama may also be considered part of South America.

Credit: Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC