File:Ireland (MODIS 2019-04-21).jpg

English: On March 28, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of a nearly cloud-free day over Ireland.

True to its nickname of the Emerald Isle, Ireland wears a coat of green, thanks to the heavy vegetation that covers most of the country except for exposed rock on mountaintops. Moderate temperatures and moist air gives Ireland its greenness. About 29 and 78 inches (750 to 2000 mm) of rain falls each year across the island, with higher amounts falling in the west and in the mountains. One of the plants found growing across much of Ireland is gorse, a spiny and prickly evergreen shrub that thrives in dry, acidic soil. Gorse is highly flammable, especially when temperatures climb and moisture drops. When conditions are right, any spark can cause a fast-spreading, smoky fire that can be very destructive. Spring and summer are what some call, ironically and with frustration, the “annual handwringing festival” or the “festival of fires”. Open burning is prohibited after March 1, but fires are frequently sparked, almost always by human activity, either directly or indirectly, despite the fire bans.

The streaks of smoke over Ireland on March 28 strongly suggests that the fire season has begun. According to Global Fire Watch Fire Maps, 31 fire alerts were recorded from March 23-31 across Ireland.