File:Fires in West Africa (MODIS 2021-12-27).jpg

English: Dozens of fires burned across the southern coast of West Africa in late December 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite captured a true-color image of the smoke-filled scene on December 23.

Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal bands on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with typical smoke, as in this image, such hot spots mark actively burning fire. The fires span five countries. From west to east they are Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. Most are clustered in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Smoke covers the entire region and streamers of smoke pour across the Gulf of Guinea.

The location, high number, and time of year strongly suggest that these are agricultural fires, which have been deliberately set to manage crops or pasture. The economy of many of these countries is dominated by agriculture, with high numbers of residents employed as farmers. Fires are used to clear stubble from harvested crops, prepare land for new crops, and to clear new land for pasture or cropping. They are also sometimes ignited to facilitate hunting, by driving game towards the hunters. On a small scale, the fires do not necessarily do serious harm, but large numbers of fire and smoke can cause respiratory problems in people and animals, damage air quality, and may even impact climate.