Thread by @KyleighPanetta

Every time I try to google info about the massive Amazon Rainforest Fire, I get results for the Amazon Fire stick. And that’s ridiculous.

So I’m making a thread with information about how devastating this is and why we should ALL be concerned #AmazonRainforest (📷: @Reuters)

1. The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) says it’s detected more than 72,000 fires between January & August - the most since records began in 2013. It’s observed more than 9,500 forest fires since Thursday. #AmazonRainforest @BBC bbc.in/2Mwrxtt

2. @NASA released satellite pictures from August 11 & 13. You can see smoke from the forest fires from space. In the Amazon region, fires are rare for much of the year because wet weather prevents them from starting & spreading. #AmazonRainforest

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145464/…

3. Wildfires are common during Brazil’s dry season. Fire season in the Amazon runs from August - October. Peak is mid-September. But these fires come at a time when concerns are being raised over the levels of deforestation taking place in the Amazon. @BBC
#AmazonRainforest

4. Fires are used as a normal agricultural “cleaning” technique, although it is illegal at this time of year because of the high risk of spreading. It’s also one of the methods of illegal deforestation. #AmazonRainforest @euronews bit.ly/33VFmYa

5. Earlier this month, Amazonas (the largest state in Brazil) declared a state of emergency over the rising number of forest fires #AmazonRainforest @euronews @vicenews bit.ly/2KY8uVR

6. Concerns are growing over Pres. Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policy. He took office in January - vowing to develop the region for farming & mining, ignoring international concern over increased deforestation. #AmazonRainforest @Reuters reut.rs/30kC26L

7. Official data from Brazil's space research agency won't be consolidated until 2020. The director of the agency was recently fired for alerting about the high rates of deforestation in the Amazon forest. #AmazonRainforest @euronews bit.ly/33VFmYa

8. Germany and Norway are suspending money that goes towards protecting the Amazon because the deforestation numbers are growing and “Brazil appears unwilling to stop deforestation”. #AmazonRainforest @folha bit.ly/2MuPktO

9. The sky in São Paulo randomly went dark for around an hour on Monday after strong winds brought in smoke from forest fires burning in the states of Amazonas and Rondonia, more than 1670 miles away. #AmazonRainforest @BBC bbc.in/31LRuca

10. As trees are lost, researchers say there’s a risk that large parts of the forest could transition to savannah as they lose the ability to make their own rainfall through evaporation and transpiration from plants. #AmazonRainforest @Newsweek (📷: @Reuters)

11. This could significantly impact global warming, given that the rainforest — often described as the "lungs of the planet” — absorbs vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. #AmazonRainforest @Newsweek bit.ly/2Zgatdj

12. #PrayforAmazonia has spread on social media as people share pictures like this and call for more awareness about the Amazon Rainforest Fires #AmazonRainforest (end of thread)

13. I understand mainstream media outlets are now starting to catch on. But yesterday when I googled “Amazon fire” the only result were for the company Amazon. Also, it was hard to find one article with all the information (which is why I cite so many sources). #AmazonRainforest