Fires rage at record rate in Brazil's Amazon rainforest

Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, and scientists warn that it could strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change.

In case you think this doesn’t affect you, the Amazon produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen supply and holds 1/5 of the Earth’s fresh water. If we let it burn we will destroy our biggest carbon store & release planet warming greenhouse gases. #AmazonFire #AmazonRainforest pic.twitter.com/tCrx3i9IvG

— Alicia Hannah (@AliciaHannah) August 21, 2019

The fires are burning at the highest rate since the country's space research centre, the National Institute for Space Research began tracking them in 2013.

AMAZON FIRE SEEN FROM SPACE

LOOK: Huge pillars of thick smoke coming from a wild forest fire razing the Amazon rainforest for weeks were seen from space. | (Photos courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory) pic.twitter.com/kRpiRTj1XU

— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) August 21, 2019

The centre says there have been 72,843 fires in Brazil this year, with more than half in the Amazon region.

The Amazon florest is on Fire for 16 Days straight and both the Brazilian Press and the Government isn't even covering news about this!! Please Help us!! @Greenpeace @UN @realDonaldTrump @Europarl_PT #PrayforAmazonia #AmazonFire pic.twitter.com/jhjM1zXd6G

— Milk Fraise 🍓 (@MilkFraise_) August 20, 2019

It says that is more than an 80% increase compared with the same period last year.

🌎Just a little alert to the world: the sky randomly turned dark today in São Paulo, and meteorologists believe it’s smoke from the fires burning *thousands* of kilometers away, in Rondônia or Paraguay. Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke(!). SOS🌎 pic.twitter.com/P1DrCzQO6x

— Shannon Sims (@shannongsims) August 20, 2019

The Amazon is often referred to as the planet's lungs, producing 20% of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

REPORTS: Amazon fire has been blazing for 20 days now, wildlife is being killed and half of Brazil is being covered in such a thick layer of dust and ashes that São Paulo got dark at 3pm yesterday because sunlight couldn’t breach through. pic.twitter.com/rd1FZp9CEK

— Abdi Rizack (@Its_Rizack) August 21, 2019

It is considered vital in slowing global warming, and it is home to uncountable species of fauna and flora.

#AmazonFire : Indigenous native Brazilian response to the burning in the #AmazonRainforest pic.twitter.com/rDM5tAozGG

— Richard Grune (@0406Guno) August 21, 2019

Roughly half the size of the United States, it is the largest rainforest on the planet.

[Source:CNN]

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