Massive fires are burning the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, marking the record number for years.
About 73,000 fires have been recorded between January and August, compared to 39,759 throughout 2018, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said Monday. The decline in fires is an increase of 83 percent over last year and the highest since the launch of the INPE registers in 2013.
Satellite imagery has seen more than 9,500 new forest fires since Thursday, mostly in the Amazon basin, home to the largest tropical forest and seen as vital to slowing global warming.
The images showed the northernmost state of Roraima covered with dark smoke, while south of the state of Manana was declared an emergency due to the blaze. Acres, on the border with Peru, has been an environmental alarm since Friday.
Tens of thousands of people on social media have expressed concern about Amazon's rainforest conservation.
The hashtag #prayforamazonia then became a global trend on Twitter, with some commentators criticizing Bolsonaro for not doing enough to protect the environment.
