The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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With Europe in the grip of a heatwave and little rain, the scorched ground and dry vegetation is succumbing to fire. Fires have now broken out as far as the Arctic Circle, in Sweden. This wide view, which stretches from the west coast of Norway to central Sweden, was captured by Sentinel-3 on 17 July 2018. Here, smoke can be seen billowing from several fires. The fires have led to the authorities evacuating some villages and appealing for help from other countries, and concerns that the current record temperatures and drought are linked to climate change. There are said to be around 50 fires now burning in the country. Through July there have been three times as many fires as there were last year.
See also: Sweden in flames and Zooming in on fires in Sweden.