Image: Borneo on fire
Thursday, October 22, 2015 - 06:10
in Earth & Climate
Asian countries near the equator are in an extreme drought, one of the more predictable impacts of an El Niño event like the one underway this year. The worst forest fires in nearly two decades are burning out of control on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. This Oct. 14 image from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) shows a section of the Indonesian side of Borneo 258 miles (415 kilometers) wide, extending from the center to the south coast of the island. A blanket of smoke covers much of the image, blowing westward with the prevailing winds toward Sumatra and the nations of Malaysia and Singapore.