GREENBELT, Md., July 18 (UPI) -- Fires raging in central Africa are generating significant pollution that is showing up in data from NASA's Aura Satellite, the U.S. space agency says.
The satellite's Ozone Measuring Instrument has measured nitrogen dioxide levels from agricultural fires over the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Angola July 7-12, a NASA release said.
Each year, people in the region burn croplands to clear fields after harvests, to create new growth in pastures and move grazing animals to new locations, NASA said.
Detection of NO2 is important, the agency said, because it reacts with sunlight to create low-level ozone or smog and poor air quality that can be hazardous to the health of both plants and animals.
Ozone in association with particulate matter is known to cause respiratory problems in humans.
