NASA MODIS image: Pollution and Fires in Eastern China

Images are generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 

Credit: Image: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

NASA's Aqua satellite captured multiple plumes of smoke from agricultural fires and further evidence of growing industrial pollution in China.

China has long since denied it's destructive role in climate change, despite evidence to the contrary.

The smoke and haze stretches from Inner Mongolia, located north of Beijing, south and west including the provinces of Hebei, Shedong, Henan, Shanxi, Hubai, Hunan, and Chongqing.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite has infrared capabilities that can detect heat from the various wildfires.

In the MODIS images, fires, or hot spots are colour coded as red areas in imagery and smoke appears in light brown. Images are generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.