Aug 27, 2019 - Energy & Environment

In photos: The devastating impact of the Amazon rainforest fires

Rebecca Falconer

The Amazon region experiencing more fires, with more intense burns, than in recent years. — 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.

Aerial view showing smoke billowing from a patch of forest being cleared with fire in the surroundings of Boca do Acre, a city in Amazonas State, in the Amazon basin in northwestern Brazil — Forest is cleared with fire in the surroundings of Boca do Acre, a city in Amazonas state, in the Amazon basin in northwestern Brazil, Aug. 24. Photo: Lula Sampaio/AFP/Getty Images

A labourer stares at a fire that spread to the farm he work on next to a highway in Nova Santa Helena municipality in northern Mato Grosso State, south in the Amazon basin in Brazil — A farm worker in Nova Santa Helena municipality in northern Mato Grosso state, south of the Amazon basin in Brazil, Aug. 23. Photo: Joao Laet/AFP/Getty Images

Burnt areas of the Amazon near Boca do Acre, in the Amazon basin, Brazil, on Aug. 24. — Burned areas of the Amazon near Boca do Acre, in the Amazon basin, Brazil, Aug. 24. Photo: Lula Sampaio/AFP/Getty Images

View of fire in the Amazon rainforest, near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, on August 24, 2019 — Fire in the Amazon rainforest, near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, Aug. 24. Photo: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Cattle graze with a burnt area in the background after a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil — Cattle graze near a burned area of the Amazon near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, Aug. 25. Photo: Joao Laet/AFP/Getty Images

A fire burns out of control after spreading onto a farm along a highway in Nova Santa Helena municipality in northern Mato Grosso State, south in the Amazon basin in Brazil, on August 23 — Fire burns out of control at a farm in Nova Santa Helena, northern Mato Grosso state, in the Amazon basin, Brazil, Aug. 23. Photo: Joao Laet/AFP/Getty Images

Go deeper: Earth's lungs are burning