Aug 27, 2019 - Energy & Climate
In photos: The devastating impact of the Amazon rainforest fires
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
How the fires look from space. Photo: Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory/Facebook
The Amazon rainforest has been ravaged by hundreds of fires for the past 3 weeks, and the Brazilian government has deployed 44,000 troops to battle the blazes.
Why it matters: World leaders at the G7 summit have pledged a $20 million aid package to help affected South American countries fight the blazes. The BBC notes that from 1980 to 2010, the rainforest's trees are estimated to have pulled in carbon dioxide equivalent to the fossil fuel emissions of most of the 9 countries that own or border it.
Go deeper: Earth's lungs are burning
