Ash rain and eclipse: Brazil is drowning in smoke due to fires in the Amazon forests
The Amazon rainforest, which is the largest rainforest in the world, has been burning for 16 days in a row. And the number of fires is increasing every day. Most of them are located in the Amazon Basin area.
According to scientists, 1.86 million hectares of equatorial forests of the Brazilian Amazon have already been destroyed due to fires this year. In addition, the environmental disaster affected the lives of the inhabitants of Brazil. On Monday, ash rain fell in the largest metropolis of the country, Sao Paulo, and the sky was completely covered with smoke.
Sao Paulo is very far from the rain forests - on the other side of the country. Nevertheless, its residents were faced with smoke from large-scale fires, which managed to overcome thousands of kilometers and reached the city.
Experts say this is "unlikely."
But photos appearing on social networks indicate the opposite.
For example, this is a snapshot of the "night" sky in Sao Paulo. The author clarifies that in fact the photo was taken at three o'clock in the afternoon, just the sun hid behind a dense layer of smoke.
And this is what rainwater looks like, which was collected by the residents of Sao Paulo. Scientists have confirmed the presence of a large amount of ash in it and stated that the substances contained in the water are toxic to humans.
So that you better understand the scale of the problem. This is what fires in the Amazon forests look like.
Scientists have managed to record 35590 such foci, and this is only in August!
In total, more than 75 thousand fires occurred in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest in 2019. This is a record number in the seven-year history of research.
Eyewitnesses share terrifying footage of the fire.
Netizens blame Brazilian President Jair Bolsonar, nicknamed the "Chainsaw Captain," for the incident. Recently, he ordered the destruction of tropical forests and the liberation of territories for agriculture and enterprises that will be engaged in the extraction of useful resources.
To somehow influence the situation, a flash mob #PrayforAmazonia (#Praysaamazonia) was launched on Twitter. Under the hashtag, they post photos and videos of a forest fire and call on the state to "save the lungs of the planet."
Keywords: Brazil | Forest fires | Fire | Tropics