Satellite Shows Spread of California’s Caldor Fire in Time-Lapse Video

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NOAA’s GOES 17 satellite captured this image of the raging Caldor Fire on August 30. (Image credit: NOAA)

This stunning time-lapse video captured by a satellite in orbit shows the scale of the massive Caldor Fire raging near Lake Tahoe on the border of California and Nevada. The video was released by NOAA on Tuesday morning and shows the blaze burning south of Lake Tahoe with a thick plume of smoke spreading to the east.

The GOES 17 satellite operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded the images making up the new time-lapse video on Monday evening (Aug. 30). The satellite’s high-resolution rapid-scan camera was specifically developed to detect wildfires and monitor smoke coverage in near real-time, which NOAA editors then sped up in the new video, according to Space.com.

More information on the Caldor Fire:


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4 thoughts on “Satellite Shows Spread of California’s Caldor Fire in Time-Lapse Video

  1. Even if you fix global warming tomorrow, it will not fix the wildfire problem we’re currently having.

    1. So what are you planning to do to fix it? You keep talking like you have all the answers, yet you just keep saying the same thing over & over.
      Come on Anonymous, we are counting on you to rid the country of wild fires.

      1. Pick up a book and read some wildfire history. There’s a plethora of literature about it. Understand what the natural ecosystem looked like before Americans settled the west. There were naturally occurring fires every 10-15 years. The forest naturally thinned itself out. The forest was much less dense (trees per acre) and not overgrown like it is today.

        How did we get to where we are? Aggressive, well intentioned fire fighting efforts for the last 100 years.

        What is the result of the last 100 years of aggressive fire fighting? Unnaturally dense and overgrown forest.

        How do we replicate a more naturally occurring density of the forest? Extensive controlled burn operations and extensive forest thinning operations. (Fixing climate change will do nothing to fix the wildfire issue)

        I’m glad you all think I’m a goof. Hopefully I stimulated your curiosity enough to go learn about what is actually causing the problem!

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