Photos: Amazon reports record surge in forest fires

By HT Correspondent

Updated On Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

A chunk of the Amazon rainforest has been consumed by fires for weeks now. The number of forest fires in Brazil surged in the first eight months of 2019, as President Jair Bolsonaro faces growing criticism over rampant destruction of the Amazon. According to National Institute for Space Research (INPE) nearly 73,000 fires were recorded between January and August this year. When questioned about the fires the president said “I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame. But it is the season of the queimada (burned).”

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Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil. A chunk of the Amazon rainforest has been consumed by fires for weeks now. The number of forest fires in Brazil surged in the first eight months of 2019, as President Jair Bolsonaro faces growing criticism over rampant destruction of the Amazon. (Ueslei Marcelino / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil. A chunk of the Amazon rainforest has been consumed by fires for weeks now. The number of forest fires in Brazil surged in the first eight months of 2019, as President Jair Bolsonaro faces growing criticism over rampant destruction of the Amazon. (Ueslei Marcelino / REUTERS)

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A man works in a burning tract of Amazon jungle as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers in Iranduba. Nearly 73,000 fires were recorded between January and August, compared to 39,759 in all of 2018, the embattled National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said. That is the highest number of forest fires for any year since 2013 and follows two years of declines. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

A man works in a burning tract of Amazon jungle as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers in Iranduba. Nearly 73,000 fires were recorded between January and August, compared to 39,759 in all of 2018, the embattled National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said. That is the highest number of forest fires for any year since 2013 and follows two years of declines. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Brush fires burn in Guaranta do Norte municipality, Mato Grosso state. “What we are seeing is a consequence of the increase in deforestation seen in recent figures,” said Ricardo Mello of WWF’s Amazon Program. (AP / PTI)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

Brush fires burn in Guaranta do Norte municipality, Mato Grosso state. “What we are seeing is a consequence of the increase in deforestation seen in recent figures,” said Ricardo Mello of WWF’s Amazon Program. (AP / PTI)

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Forest fires tend to intensify during the dry season, which usually ends in late October or early November, as land is cleared to make way for crops or grazing. (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

Forest fires tend to intensify during the dry season, which usually ends in late October or early November, as land is cleared to make way for crops or grazing. (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

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A firefighter attempts to extinguish flames during the dry season in Brasilia. Thick smoke has blanketed several cities in recent days and even caused a commercial flight to be diverted. (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

A firefighter attempts to extinguish flames during the dry season in Brasilia. Thick smoke has blanketed several cities in recent days and even caused a commercial flight to be diverted. (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

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Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State. The data comes as Brazilian President Bolsonaro faces growing criticism over his anti-environment rhetoric, which activists blame for emboldening loggers, miners and farmers in the Amazon. (Ueslei Marcelino / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State. The data comes as Brazilian President Bolsonaro faces growing criticism over his anti-environment rhetoric, which activists blame for emboldening loggers, miners and farmers in the Amazon. (Ueslei Marcelino / REUTERS)

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“There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average,” said INPE researcher Alberto Setzer . “The dry season creates the favorable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident.” (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

“There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average,” said INPE researcher Alberto Setzer . “The dry season creates the favorable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident.” (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

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Bolsonaro recently fired the director of INPE after he criticized agency statistics showing an increase in deforestation in Brazil, saying they were inaccurate. “I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame. But it is the season of the queimada,” he said. (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

Updated on Aug 23, 2019 10:16 am IST

Bolsonaro recently fired the director of INPE after he criticized agency statistics showing an increase in deforestation in Brazil, saying they were inaccurate. “I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame. But it is the season of the queimada,” he said. (Adriano Machado / REUTERS)

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