The Amazon is being shrouded in plumes of smokeas fires rage across parts of the rainforest, imperilling the so-called “lungs of the planet” and the vast array of life to which it is home.
Visible from outer space, the smoke billows have prompted international alarm, calls for action and much finger-pointing over what, or who, is responsible for the burning.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in particular, has come under intense scrutiny for his controversial stewardship of Brazil’s majority share of the rainforest.
Al Jazeera answers some of the major questions being asked about the crisis in the Amazon, one of Earth’s greatest natural treasures.
Where are the fires?
The fires are burning across a range of states in Brazil’s section of the Amazon rainforest.
Northerly Roraima down through Amazonas, Acre, Rondonia and Mato Grosso do Sul have all been badly affected.
Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) spotted more than 9,500 new forest fires in Brazil since August 15 alone, while atmospheric monitoring agencies have tracked smoke from the Amazon region drifting thousands of kilometres across the Latin American giant to the Atlantic coast and Sao Paulo, briefly turning daytime in Brazil’s biggest city to night on Monday.
