Nearly 10,000 fiery infernos are raging across the Amazon, razing tropical vegetation and trees.

Since August 15, more than 9,500 new forest fires have started across Brazil, primarily in the Amazon rainforest basin. The largest state in Brazil, Amazonas, has declared a state of emergency. Smoke from the recent fires spread thousands of miles this week, darkening the sky in São Paulo on Monday.

Read More: Amazon fires created a smoke eclipse in the skies above Brazil’s largest city, 2,000 miles away

This year so far, scientists have recorded more than 74,000 fires in Brazil – nearly double 2018’s total of about 40,000 fires. The surge marks an 83% increase in wildfires over the same period of 2018, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research reported.

As the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon plays a crucial role in keeping our planet's carbon-dioxide levels in check. Plants and trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the air in their process of photosynthesis. This is why the Amazon, which covers 2.1 million square miles, is often referred to as the "lungs of the planet": The forest produces 20% of the oxygen in our planet's atmosphere.

Not only has the Amazon been hit hard by fires this summer, it also experienced record-breaking deforestation last month. In July, the rainforest lost an area more than twice the area of Tokyo.

If too much of the Amazon disappears, that could trigger a "dieback," in which the Amazon is transformed into savannah-like habitat and in the process releases 140 billions tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

These images show what the devastation in the Amazon looks like.


The map below shows every fire that's started across Brazil since August 13, 2019.

Foto: sourceCourtesy of Global Forest Watch

Source: Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, Global Forest Watch


NASA satellites have also spotted the many fires raging in the western Brazilian Amazon.

Foto: sourceNASA

According to Reuters, parts of the rainforest smell like a barbecue.

Foto: An area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Brazil burns on August 17, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

Sources: Queimadas, Reuters


The fires are directly linked to deforestation, since farmers sometimes set the forest ablaze to make room for livestock pastures and crop fields.

Foto: An area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Brazil, burns on August 14, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

July set a new record for the most deforestation of the Amazon in one month: The Amazon shrunk by 519 square miles (1,345 square kilometers).

Foto: An area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Brazil burns on August 14, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

That's nearly twice the size of New York City.

Foto: Smoke hovers over a fire in Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on August 21, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

Data from Brazilian satellites indicated that about three football fields' worth of Amazonian trees fell every minute in July.

Foto: A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows a close-up view of a fire southwest of Porto Velho, Brazil, on August 15, 2019.sourceMaxar Technologies/AP

Source: Terra Brasilis


During the Amazon's dry season, blazes can also spark from natural sources, like lightning strikes.

Foto: Smoke hovers over a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on August 21, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

Typically, that dry season runs from July to October, peaking in late September. Wetter weather during the rest of the year minimizes the risk of fires at other times.

Foto: A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it gets cleared by loggers and farmers in Iranduba, Amazonas state, Brazil, August 20, 2019.sourceREUTERS/Bruno Kelly

But warmer temperatures and drier conditions linked to climate change make it easier for both these natural and intentionally lit fires to get out of control.

Foto: Smoke hovers over a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on August 21, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

That extra heat and dryness enable blazes to grow bigger than they otherwise might have.

Foto: Smoke hovers over a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on August 21, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

In total, the recent blazes have created a layer of smoke estimated to be 1.2 million square miles wide.

Foto: A satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows parts of the western Amazon rainforest on fire, August 12, 2019.sourceNOAA

By Monday, smoke plumes had spread from the western state of Amazonas to the nearby states of Pará and Mato Grosso, and even blotted out the sun in São Paulo — a city more than 2,000 miles away.

Foto: Darkened sky is seen above Sao Paulo, Brazil due to a smoke cloud from forest fires in the Amazon thousands of miles away, August 19, 2019.sourceAndre Lucas/Getty

The Amazon rainforest is a source of life support for our planet, since its plants and trees produce 20% of the world's oxygen.

Foto: An area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Brazil burns on August 17, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/ReutersUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

Source: BBC


But if enough of the Amazon burns or gets cut down, it could pass a tipping point that would lead it to disappear entirely and irreversibly.

Foto: Smoke consumes the air over a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on August 21, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

In that scenario, known as a "dieback," the rainforest would get converted into an African savannah-type habitat.

Foto: A deforested area near Novo Progresso in Brazil's northern state of Para, September 15, 2009.sourceAP Photo/Andre Penner

That would spell disaster for Amazonian flora and fauna, of course, and it would also lead to the release of 140 billion tons of stored carbon dioxide.

Foto: This November 17, 2014 photo shows the four stages of land management on a big cattle farm in the Brazilian Amazon: cleared land that was recently burned, a grassy pasture waiting for cattle, burning forest, and native forest that will eventually meet the same fate.sourceRicardo Funari/Getty

That CO2 would then further warm the planet. Once this dieback starts, the forest would be "beyond the reach of any subsequent human intervention or regret," according to the Intercept.

Foto: A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers in Novo Airao, Amazonas state, Brazil, August 21, 2019.sourceBruno Kelly/Reuters

Source: The Intercept


Brazil controls a lion's share of the Amazon. But Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, has indicated that protecting the rainforest is not one of his top priorities.

Foto: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil on August 20, 2019.sourceAdriano Machado/Reuters

Source: Business Insider


Bolsonaro supports development projects like a highway and hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.

Foto: Sunlight reflects on the lake of Samuel Hydroelectric Dam in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on August 21, 2019.sourceUeslei Marcelino/Reuters

His administration has also cut down on the seizing of illegally harvested timber. In 2018, the Brazilian government seized 883,000 cubic feet of illegal timber. But as of May 15, 2019, Bolsonaro's government agencies had seized only 1,410 cubic feet, Pacific Standard reported.

Foto: An agent of Brazil's environment police walks on piles of logs that were illegally extracted from the Amazon rainforest in Viseu, Para state, September 26, 2013.sourceRicardo Morales/Reuters

Source: Pacific Standard


Between January and May, Bolsonaro's government also lowered the number of fines it levied for illegal deforestation and mining (down 34% from the same period in 2018) and decreased its monitoring of illegal activity in the rainforest.

Foto: A man works in a burning tract of Amazon jungle as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers in Iranduba, Amazonas state.sourceBruno Kelly / Reuters

When Reuters asked Bolsonaro about the record-breaking fires in Brazil, he pointed to the fact that it's a time of year when farmers purposefully use fire to clear land — a seasonal cycle called "queimada."

Foto: A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it gets cleared by loggers and farmers in Novo Airao, Amazonas state, Brazil, August 21, 2019.sourceBruno Kelly/Reuters

Source: Reuters


Bolsonaro also suggested — without evidence — that non-governmental organizations are setting the fires to damage his reputation.

Foto: A composite image showing some of the Amazon burning in Brazil on August 21, 2019, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in March.sourceREUTERS/Bruno Kelly/SERGIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images/Business Insider

Source: Reuters