Photos: The Burning Amazon Rainforest

Alan Taylor
August 26, 2019
24 Photos
In Focus

For weeks now, forest fires have been burning across Brazil’s Amazon rainforest—generally a normal situation in the dry season, but the fires are much worse than normal this year. Brazil’s official numbers now tally more than 79,500 fires this year—more than half of those in the Amazon, making this the “most active fire year in that region since 2010.” The majority of these fires are intentional, set by farmers and ranchers to clear fields and open up land for grazing. The government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who promised to relax environmental protections, faces growing criticism in Brazil and abroad as the Amazon burns. Gathered here, images from Brazil taken over the past few days. Editor’s note: A government handout photo of an aircraft dropping water was removed from this story, after it was discovered to have been taken years earlier.

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A laborer stares at a fire that spread to the farm he worked on next to a highway in Nova Santa Helena municipality in northern Mato Grosso state, in the Amazon basin in Brazil, on August 23, 2019. #

Joao Laet / AFP / Getty

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An aerial picture shows a fire on a piece of land in the Amazon rainforest, about 65 km from Porto Velho, in Brazil's Rondonia state, on August 23, 2019. #

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty

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A burned section of the Amazon rainforest, photographed near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, on August 24, 2019. #

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty

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Firefighters work to put out forest fires along the road to Jacunda National Forest near Porto Velho, in the Vila Nova Samuel region, part of Brazil's Amazon, on August 25, 2019. #

Eraldo Peres / AP

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This satellite image provided by NASA shows smoke from the fires in Brazil among clouds, on August 20, 2019. #

NASA via AP

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A tract in the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho, Brazil, on August 24, 2019. #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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An untouched jungle stands next to an area that was burned recently near Porto Velho, on August 23, 2019. #

Victor R. Caivano / AP

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A cow remains in a burned area after a fire in the Amazon rainforest near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, on August 25, 2019. #

Joao Laet / AFP / Getty

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Part of the Amazon rainforest burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho on August 24, 2019. #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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Fallen trees burn near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, on August 24, 2019. #

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty

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A fire burns in a section of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Candeias do Jamari region on August 25, 2019. #

Victor Moriyama / Getty

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Embers fly as a section of of the Amazon rainforest burns, cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho on August 24, 2019. #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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An aerial view of a deforested plot of the Amazon in Boca do Acre, Amazonas state, Brazil, on August 24, 2019. #

Bruno Kelly / Reuters

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An aerial view of burned forest near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, photographed on August 24, 2019. #

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty

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Charred trunks are seen on a tract of Amazon jungle that was recently burned by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho on August 23, 2019. #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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Activists demonstrate during a protest against the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over the fires in the Amazon rainforest, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 23, 2019. #

Mauro Pimentel / AFP / Getty

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The Brazilian actress Sonia Braga shows her hands painted red, representing blood, during a protest in defense of the Amazon while wildfires burn in that region, in Rio de Janeiro, on August 25, 2019. #

Bruna Prado / AP

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A protester holds a sign while attending a demonstration to demand more protection for the Amazon rainforest, in Brasilia, Brazil, on August 23, 2019. The sign reads "Save the forest." #

Adriano Machado / Reuters

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An activist takes part in a protest against the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, at Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, on August 25, 2019. #

Mauro Pimentel / AFP / Getty

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Trees and grassland burn as an area is cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho, Brazil, on August 24, 2019. #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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A view of a burning area in the Amazon rainforest, near Porto Velho, photographed on August 25, 2019 #

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty

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Trees burn in a wildfire on highway margins in the city of Porto Velho on August 25, 2019. #

Eraldo Peres / AP

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A snake is seen in a burned section of the forest near Porto Velho, Brazil, on August 24, 2019. #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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An aerial view of a burned section of the Amazon rainforest, photographed near Porto Velho on August 22, 2019 #

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

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