- Title: The sky never goes dark while the Amazon burns
- Date: 22nd August 2019
- Summary: NEAR PORTO VELHO, RONDONIA STATE, BRAZIL (AUGUST 21, 2019) (REUTERS) AERIAL OF FLAMES BURNING TREES AND BRUSH, SMOKE RISING AERIAL OF SMOKE RISING AERIAL OF FLAMES, SMOKE RISING. AERIAL OF FLAMES BURNING, SMOKE RISING AERIAL OF SMOKE RISING FROM AREA THAT IS STILL SMOLDERING AERIAL OF FLAMES BURNING TREES AND BRUSH AERIAL VIEW OF POCKETS OF SMOKE RISING FROM VARIOUS HOT SPOTS SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 21, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RESEARCHER AT 'GREEN INITIATIVE' NGO, OSVALDO STELA WORKING AND SPEAKING COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) RESEARCHER AT 'GREEN INITIATIVE' NGO, OSVALDO STELA, SAYING: "When we clear more than 20% of the Amazon, it can trigger the process of 'savannization' (the process of transforming natural vegetation into an area whose landscape resembles that of African savannahs) and these longer fragmentation and drought vectors are creating a more conducive scenario for fires and loss of vegetation cover. This creates a chain effect that can accelerate this process of destruction of the Amazon which will be a tragedy for everyone." NEAR PORTO VELHO, RONDONIA STATE, BRAZIL (AUGUST 21, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AERIALS OF SECTION OF SMOKE RISING FROM VARIOUS HOT SPOTS IN FOREST TRAVELLING AERIAL OF PORTION OF FOREST THAT HAS BEEN UNTOUCHED BY FIRE OR DEFORESTATION SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 21, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) RESEARCHER AT 'GREEN INITIATIVE' NGO, OSVALDO STELA, SAYING: "Strengthen IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), strengthen ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), promote the development of sustainable projects in the Amazon, strengthen the forest code and especially change this ignorant discourse that deforesting the Amazon brings some kind of benefit to the Brazilian population." NEAR PORTO VELHO, RONDONIA STATE, BRAZIL (AUGUST 21, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RIVERS AND WATERWAYS CUTTING THROUGH PORTION OF UNTOUCHED FOREST, AREA BLANKETED BY SMOKE VARIOUS OF AERIALS OF PORTIONS OF THE FOREST THAT HAD BEEN CLEARED AWAY TO MAKE ROOM FOR CROPS VARIOUS OF REFLECTION OF SETTING SUN OVER AMAZON WATERWAYS
- Embargoed: 5th September 2019 13:09
- Keywords: Brazil Amazon wildfires Bolsonaro environment deforestation dry season
- Location: NEAR PORTO VELHO, RONDONIA STATE AND SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
- City: NEAR PORTO VELHO, RONDONIA STATE AND SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001ATAW953
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: There are no lights in sight but the night sky glows a dusky yellow, for the Amazon is burning.
The smell is of barbecue, of wood charcoal up in flames. During the day the sun, usually so fierce in these parts, is obscured by thick gray smoke.
For the last seven days Reuters has repeatedly driven a 30-kilometer (18.6 miles) stretch from Humaita towards Labrea along the Trans-Amazonian highway, watching a fire eat its way through the jungle.
At first, on Wednesday of last week the raging fire stood just a few yards (meters) off the roadway, the yellow flames engulfing trees and lighting up the sky. By the weekend the fire had receded into the distance but cast an orange glow several stories high.
The fire is just one of thousands currently decimating the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest and a bulwark against climate change.
Wildfires have surged 83% so far this year when compared to the same period in 2018, according to Brazil's space research agency INPE.
The government agency has registered 72,843 fires, the highest number since records began in 2013. More than 9,500 have been spotted by satellites since last Thursday alone.
On Wednesday (August 21), Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro enraged environmentalists by making unfounded claims that non-governmental organizations were starting the fires out of anger after he cut their funding.
Global outrage has torn through social media, with #PrayforAmazonas the world's top trending topic on Twitter on Wednesday.
Reuters observed plumes of smoke billowing from the forest, reaching hundreds of feet (dozens of meters) into the air, during a week-long trip to southern Amazonas and northern Rondonia states.
Sometimes the smoke was so thick the forest itself appeared to have disappeared.
(Production: Leonardo Benassatto, Pablo Garcia) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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