Australian bushfires sparked in September have spread for months, leading to a state of emergency in many regions.
As of the new year, the blazes have scorched more than 14 million acres of land, killed about half a billion animals, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
The blazes are so large and widespread that satellites in space can easily photograph them from orbit.
Specialized sensors on satellites that can see through the thick smoke are recording the bushfires' spread.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Australia's raging bushfires are so bad that satellites thousands of miles above Earth can easily spot their flames and smoke from space.

The fires likely started naturally, though experts think human-caused climate disruption has exacerbated hot arid conditions that fuel the growth of such blazes. Current estimates suggest eastern Australia's bushfire crisis has scorched more than 14 million acres of land, killed about half a billion animals, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

The photo above - which shows plumes of smoke about half the area of Europe darkening skies as far as New Zealand in a yellow haze - was taken on Thursday by the Japan Meteorological Agency's Himawari-8 satellite.

Himawari-8 launched in October 2014 and weighs about as much as a Ford F-150 pickup truck. It now orbits over the same point about 22,300 miles above our planet. Using a variety of onboard sensors, Himawari-8, NASA's Suomi NPP satellite, and other Earth-monitoring machines are returning stunning imagery of Australia's dire situation.

Here are some of the most revealing photos, animations, and illustrations of the crisis on Earth as seen from outer space.
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-wildfires-space-satellite-pictures-smoke-new-zealand-2020-1

A gif image

This fire strong oh

Na wa oh. Like hell

The fire don start since last year September

Dem talk say over half a billion animal don die for Australia because of this

ostechno:
Dem talk say over half a billion animal don die for Australia because of this

Their snakes know no joy so the fire is well suited for them only.
I pity and pray for the displaced persons and other innocent wild animals though.

J111333:
Their snakes know no joy so the fire is well suited for them only.
I pity and pray for the displaced persons and other innocent wild animals though.

That country is my dream country, let's hope the wildfire won't spread more than that