- Title: Smoke rises above Amazon as new wildfires leave path of devastation
- Date: 30th August 2019
- Summary: RONDONIA, BRAZIL (AUGUST 29, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS AERIALS OF SMOKE RISING FROM AMAZON WILDFIRES
- Embargoed: 13th September 2019 03:04
- Keywords: smoke fire wildfires Rondonia Brazil Amazon
- Location: RONDONIA, BRAZIL
- City: RONDONIA, BRAZIL
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wildfires/Forest Fires,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001AU9WFNR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Smoke from raging wildfires emanates from tree tops in the normally lush Amazon, leaving behind it a trail of charred devastation that has left deep scars in the world's largest rainforest.
Wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest have jumped this year, with 72,843 fires detected so far by Brazil's space research centre INPE, as concerns grow over right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policy.
The surge marks an 83% increase over the same period of 2018, the agency said on Tuesday (August 27), and is the highest since 2010.
Bolsonaro's environmental policies have come under intense scrutiny as images of the burning Amazon have sparked international outrage and concern about the consequences for global warming.
Through July, destruction of Brazil's rainforest is up 67% compared to the same period a year ago, according to preliminary data released by the country's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Nearly 80,000 fires have been recorded this year through Aug. 24, the highest level since at least 2013, INPE says.
A Reuters report this month found that Bolsonaro's government had weakened the federal agency charged with protecting the rain forest through budget cuts, restrictions on destroying equipment used in environmental crime, and the sidelining of an elite force of enforcement agents.
Environmentalists say Brazilian ranchers and farmers are intentionally igniting the jungle canopy to expand their operations illegally, emboldened by Bolsonaro's pro-development, anti-regulation message. Reuters was unable to confirm this claim.
(Production: Ricardo Moraes, Sebastian Rocandio) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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