Wildfires and plumes of smoke from the Amazon rainforest can been seen from space in satellite images captured by US space agency NASA.
The disturbing photos show smoke and fire across several Brazilian states as the crisis reaches record-breaking levels.
More than 75,000 fires have erupted since the start of the year [2020] — an 83% increase on last year & the highest since records began in 2013.
The latest fires have been burning for weeks now, prompting anti-government protests & international furor.
NASA’s images show the increase in smoke & fire activity as flames break out in Rondonia, Mato Grosso & Amazonas.
More than half of the fires are in the massive Amazon Basin, where more than 20 million people live.
Some 1,663 new fires were ignited, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
Environmental organizations & researchers say the blazes were most likely set by humans who wanted to clear & use land for business purposes.
Amazon Watch, a non-profit organization working to protect the rainforest, said farmers had been setting the forest ablaze to create pastures, emboldened by Brazil’s conservative pro-business government.
“The unprecedented fires ravaging the Amazon are an international tragedy and a dangerous contribution to climate chaos.”
Fires are “directly related” to Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, a climate skeptic who in the past has been criticized for claiming environmental protections hinder the South American country’s economic growth.
“This devastation is directly related to President Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental rhetoric, which erroneously frames forest protections & human rights as impediments to Brazil’s economic growth.”
Bolsonaro’s message allowed farmers & ranchers “to commit arson with wanton impunity.”
“The vast majority of these fires are human-lit.”
Farmers & ranches had long used fire to clear land, which was the most likely cause of the unusually large number of fires burning in the rainforest.
Bolsonaro, who has previously described rainforest protections as an obstacle to Brazil’s economic development, sparred with critics who warn the Amazon absorbs vast amounts of greenhouse gases & is crucial for efforts to contain climate change.
The Amazon fires have become a global issue, escalating tensions between Brazil & European countries who believe Bolsonaro has neglected commitments to protect biodiversity.
The Amazon is often referred to as the planet’s lungs, producing 20% of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.
As the largest rainforest on the planet, it's considered a vital instrument in slowing global warming.
According to the National Institute for Space Research.. more than one-and-a-half soccer fields’ worth of Amazon rainforest are being destroyed-every-minute.
AP
