File:Fires in Madagascar (MODIS 2015-11-28).jpg

English: Agricultural fires were ablaze all over the island of Madagascar in mid-November 2015. These are not wildfires, but rather fires deliberately set to manage land by farmers. During the planting season farmers will set fire to clear the fields of leftover debris and return nutrients to the soil. This type of land clearing is called "slash and burn" agriculture. The problem with this method of clearing land is the fact that copious amounts of smoke are being released into the atmosphere. The smoke from all those fires rises and rides along the jet stream bringing pollution to all parts of the world. Smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter or soot and is hazardous to breathe. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on November 12, 2015.