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.
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 ImagesA 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 ImagesBurned areas of the Amazon near Boca do Acre, in the Amazon basin, Brazil, Aug. 24. Photo: Lula Sampaio/AFP/Getty ImagesFire in the Amazon rainforest, near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, Aug. 24. Photo: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty ImagesCattle graze near a burned area of the Amazon near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, Aug. 25. Photo: Joao Laet/AFP/Getty ImagesFire 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
A wave crashes ashore as Tropical Storm Isaias passes through Jetty Park in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Sunday. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Tropical Storm Isaias is expected to reach the Carolinas late Monday at "near hurricane strength," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
The latest: Isaias was 65 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral with winds increasing to 70 mph, the NHC said in a 2 a.m. update. Storm surge warnings and hurricane watches were in effect for North and South Carolina and Rhode Island. Tropical storm watches were in effect for Florida, Long Island and Delaware.