The Caldor fire near Lake Tahoe

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory shows smoke from the Caldor fire near Lake Tahoe. The photograph was captured on August 30, 2021 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. 

So far this year, more than 42,000 fires have burned 4,879,574 acres across the United States. Two of the largest fires – the Caldor and Dixie fires in Northern California – have collectively scorched nearly one million acres and are still burning. 

According to NASA, the Caldor and Dixie fires are the only known fires to have ever crested the ridge of the Sierra Nevada, burning from one side to the other. 

Image Credit: European Space Agency 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer