Earth & climate

2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires

2019

In the dry season of 2019 satellite monitoring showed a sharp rise in fires in the Brazilian Amazon, especially in the states of Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Mato Grosso. Most were set deliberately by farmers and land grabbers to clear forest for pasture and crops, and were helped by dry weather and by weaker enforcement of environmental rules under the government of President Jair Bolsonaro. Smoke darkened the sky over São Paulo in August, and the images spread across the world, provoking protests, a dispute with European leaders and discussion at the G7 summit in Biarritz. Brazil sent the army to fight the fires. The Amazon is a major store of carbon and home to a vast number of species.

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