NASA’s satellites explain how the California Hashim fire crisis was for years

Southern California fires continue to burn throughout Los Angeles Province, and newly unveiled satellite images show how modern air events provide fuel for the sea.

According to NASA data, the warm and dry weather in Los Angeles in the past two -thirds of 2024 is preparing for the vegetable cover for shooting, and for this fire to spread quickly.

The biggest fires began on January 7 and the destruction of marketer from Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Fires spread quickly due to the dry conditions and strong winds from the east that blew fires throughout the city and started new fire.

according to Cal fireThe two largest fires – paisades fires and Eaton – 98 % and 99 % respectively. Completely, the two burned 37,000 acres (150 square kilometers). Satellite images offer a retroactive effect on how to plant fire seeds due to modern climatic trends.

A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, Find The accumulation of the vegetation between 2022 and 2024, followed by the dry conditions mentioned above, made the Los Angeles province a giant box.

2022 and 2023 were especially wet years for South California. According to the Earth Observatory NASA ReleaseThe aesthetics of rain in the center of Los Angeles were nearly twice the average of two years, according to data dating back to 1877.

Weather rivers are regular events on the western coast, especially northwest of the Pacific Ocean. Air escapes are air lane corridors, which are more than 1245 miles (2000 km). NASA World Hydrometer Research Council. Rivers are defeated by rain over an area of ​​an extended period of time, which often causes floods and landslides.

But moisture also turned off the thirst of plants, as shown on the map above. The vegetation was built through the Los Angeles Province – to 30 % more than average in some parts of the city – in the summer of 2024. The National Fire Center between the agencies I mentioned In July, a quantity of vegetation was higher than the average available as fuel for forest fires in California.

Map of soil moisture in Los Angeles Province. Photo: Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from American geological survey and soil moisture data from the NASA Research and Transfer Center in NASA.

During the second half of the terms of 2024, it changed quickly. The area dried up, in turn, charging all the vegetation that spread over the years of intense rain. According to Los Angeles TimesThe period from May 2024 to January 2025 was your second fleet on the record date back to 1877.

On the map above, nude soil dryness is placed. The map shows the levels of soil moisture in relation to naturally at the top of 40 inches of soil – where most plants place their roots. The map reflects the conditions of soil moisture on January 7 – the day when the largest forest fires began.

The maps are a reminder that although the fires felt surprising and amazing, the conditions on the ground were ready for a disaster. The climate fluctuations from wet to very dry become very dry More commonIt is important to have satellite scanning areas, and we work in the words of the largest possible warning if the disaster is just around the corner.