NASA photos show Amazon fires lighting up the night sky across all of South America

Huge swathes of fires in the Amazon rainforest can still be seen from space in the latest satellite image released by NASA.

The sobering picture, taken between August 15-22, show lit up areas in South America where large blazes continued to burn.

Hundreds of new fires have been discovered raging in the rainforest as thousands of troops were deployed to battle the horrifying blazes, some of which have been going for more than three weeks.

The locations of the infernos, shown in orange, have been overlain on nighttime imagery, with cities and towns presented as white, forests in black, and woodland in grey.

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The locations of the infernos, shown in orange, have been overlain on nighttime imagery, with cities and towns presented as white, forests in black, and woodland in grey

The large patch of orange in the north east of Brazil concentrates around the states of Pará and Amazonas, which have both been heavily affected.

Wildfires in populated areas such as Porto Velho in Rondonia have been particularly hard hit, with a blanket of smoke engulfing the city.

NASA has also released a time series showing a huge carbon monoxide plume lingering over Brazil.

The images, which were taken at 18,000ft between August 8 and August 22 using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard the Aqua satellite, highlights carbon monoxide in green when the amount is about 100 parts per billion by volume (ppbv).

The images, which was taken at 18,000ft between August 8 and August 22 using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard the Aqua satellite, highlights carbon monoxide in green when the amount is about 100 parts per billion by volume (ppbv)

The images, which was taken at 18,000ft between August 8 and August 22 using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard the Aqua satellite, highlights carbon monoxide in green when the amount is about 100 parts per billion by volume (ppbv)

It also shows the gas in yellow if it is around 120 ppbv and red when it is at 160 ppbv.

The map clearly shows that as the days move on, the carbon monoxide levels increase, particularly in the north west of Brazil, before drifting across to the south east of the rainforest.

The individual days in the series are constructed by getting an average from three days’ worth of results. This rids the possibility of data gaps.

NASA said: ‘Carbon monoxide is a pollutant that can be transported large distances and persist in the atmosphere for about one month.

‘At the high altitude mapped in these images, the gas has little effect on the air we breathe; however, strong winds can carry it downward to where it can significantly impact air quality.

‘Carbon monoxide plays a role in both air pollution and climate change.’

A fire burns in highway margins in the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state, part of Brazil's Amazon, on Sunday. It has led to plumes of smoke and fires to be visible from space

A fire burns in highway margins in the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state, part of Brazil’s Amazon, on Sunday. It has led to plumes of smoke and fires to be visible from space

Trees are destroyed after a fire in the Alvorada da Amazonia region in Novo Progresso, Para state, on Sunday. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has rallied anger at home and criticism from abroad in his response to the fires raging in the Amazon

Trees are destroyed after a fire in the Alvorada da Amazonia region in Novo Progresso, Para state, on Sunday. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has rallied anger at home and criticism from abroad in his response to the fires raging in the Amazon

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has rallied anger at home and criticism from abroad in his response to the fires raging in the Amazon.

The far-right populist leader initially dismissed the hundreds of blazes and then questioned whether activist groups might have started the fires in an effort to damage the credibility of his government, which has called for looser environmental regulations in the world’s largest rainforest to spur development.

In response, European leaders threatened to end a trade deal with Brazil and other South American nations. 

Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities across Brazil and outside Brazilian embassies around the world. 

#PrayforAmazonia became a worldwide trending topic. 

An area smolders in the Alvorada da Amazonia region in Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, Sunday, on Sunday. The far-right populist leader initially dismissed the hundreds of blazes and then questioned whether activist groups might have started the fires in an effort to damage the credibility of his government, which has called for looser environmental regulations in the world's largest rainforest to spur development

An area smolders in the Alvorada da Amazonia region in Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, Sunday, on Sunday. The far-right populist leader initially dismissed the hundreds of blazes and then questioned whether activist groups might have started the fires in an effort to damage the credibility of his government, which has called for looser environmental regulations in the world’s largest rainforest to spur development

Several residents in the capital, Porto Velho, said that what appeared to be light clouds hanging over the city of half a million people, was actually smoke from the blazes. Pictured: Aerial view of burnt areas of the Amazon rainforest, near Porto Velho, Rondonia state

Several residents in the capital, Porto Velho, said that what appeared to be light clouds hanging over the city of half a million people, was actually smoke from the blazes. Pictured: Aerial view of burnt areas of the Amazon rainforest, near Porto Velho, Rondonia state

Pope Francis added his voice to the chorus of concern, warning that the ‘lung of forest is vital for our planet.’

Bolsonaro finally took a less confrontational approach Friday and announced he would send 44,000 soldiers to help battle the blazes, which mostly seem to be charring land deforested, perhaps illegally, for farming and ranching rather than burning through stands of trees.

Some say it’s not enough and comes too late.

‘No democratic government has suffered such international criticism as Bolsonaro is going through,’ said Mauricio Santoro, an international relations professor at Rio de Janeiro State University. ‘By breaching international environmental agreements, Brazil has been discredited, blurred and unable to exercise any type of leadership on the international stage.’

A woman holds up a sign that reads "SOS Amazons. Everybody for the Amazon" featuring a stuffed sloth animal during a protest in defense of the Amazon while wildfires burn in that region, in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Experts from the country's satellite monitoring agency say most of the fires are set by farmers or ranchers clearing existing farmland, but the same monitoring agency has reported a sharp increase in deforestation this year as well

A woman holds up a sign that reads “SOS Amazons. Everybody for the Amazon” featuring a stuffed sloth animal during a protest in defense of the Amazon while wildfires burn in that region, in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Experts from the country’s satellite monitoring agency say most of the fires are set by farmers or ranchers clearing existing farmland, but the same monitoring agency has reported a sharp increase in deforestation this year as well

Brazilian military planes began dumping water on fires in the Amazon state of Rondonia over the weekend, and a few hundred of the promised troops deployed into the fire zone. But many Brazilians again took to the streets in Rio de Janeiro and other cities Sunday to demand the administration do more. Some held banners that read: ‘Bol$onaro is burning our future.’

Bolsonaro has previously described rainforest protections as an obstacle to Brazil’s economic development. 

Critics say the record number of fires this year has been stoked by his encouragement of farmers, loggers and ranchers to speed efforts to strip away forest. 

Although he has now vowed to protect the area, they say it is only out of fear of a diplomatic crisis and economic losses.

Trees that survived a forest fire stand amid smoldering smoke in the Vila Nova Samuel region, along the road to the National Forest of Jacunda, near to the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state. In response to Bolsonaro, European leaders threatened to end a trade deal with Brazil and other South American nations. Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities across Brazil and outside Brazilian embassies around the world. #PrayforAmazonia became a worldwide trending topic

Trees that survived a forest fire stand amid smoldering smoke in the Vila Nova Samuel region, along the road to the National Forest of Jacunda, near to the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state. In response to Bolsonaro, European leaders threatened to end a trade deal with Brazil and other South American nations. Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities across Brazil and outside Brazilian embassies around the world. #PrayforAmazonia became a worldwide trending topic

Above are aerial pictures supplied by Greenpeace of Porto Veleho in Rondonia State in the Amazon basin in northwestern Brazil on Saturday. The image shows fires smouldering tracks through the jungle and smoke flying upwards into the sky

Above are aerial pictures supplied by Greenpeace of Porto Veleho in Rondonia State in the Amazon basin in northwestern Brazil on Saturday. The image shows fires smouldering tracks through the jungle and smoke flying upwards into the sky

‘The international pressure today has a bigger impact than the demonstrations by Brazilians on the streets,’ Santoro said.

The leaders of the Group of Seven nations said Sunday that they were preparing a plan for helping Brazil battle the fires and repair the damage.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the help would involve both technical and financial mechanisms ‘so that we can help them in the most effective way possible.’

Firefighters work to put out fires in the Vila Nova Samuel region, along the road to the National Forest of Jacunda, near to the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state, on Sunday. The leaders of the Group of Seven nations said Sunday that they were preparing a plan for helping Brazil battle the fires and repair the damage

Firefighters work to put out fires in the Vila Nova Samuel region, along the road to the National Forest of Jacunda, near to the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state, on Sunday. The leaders of the Group of Seven nations said Sunday that they were preparing a plan for helping Brazil battle the fires and repair the damage

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country and others will talk with Brazil about reforestation in the Amazon once the fires have been extinguished.

‘Of course (this is) Brazilian territory, but we have a question here of the rainforests that is really a global question,’ she said. ‘The lung of our whole Earth is affected, and so we must find common solutions.’

Fires are common during Brazil’s dry season, but this year has set an alarming record. 

The country’s National Space Research Institute, which monitors deforestation, has recorded more than 77,000 wildfires in Brazil this year. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country and others will talk with Brazil about reforestation in the Amazon once the fires have been extinguished. Pictured: Fire consumes a field along the BR 070 highway near Cuiaba, Mato Grosso state, on Sunday

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country and others will talk with Brazil about reforestation in the Amazon once the fires have been extinguished. Pictured: Fire consumes a field along the BR 070 highway near Cuiaba, Mato Grosso state, on Sunday

That is an 85 per cent rise over last year, and about half of the fires have been in the Amazon region.

‘We’ve had eight months without any type of concrete action in defense of the Amazon,’ said Rómulo Batista, a member of Greenpeace Brazil’s Amazonia Campaign. 

He said the flames licking over swaths of the Amazon are a reflection of Bolsonaro’s environmental policy.

‘The government created a sense of impunity among farmers who were willing to commit illegal acts to deforest,’ he said.

Fires are common during Brazil's dry season, but this year has set an alarming record. The country's National Space Research Institute, which monitors deforestation, has recorded more than 77,000 wildfires in Brazil this year. In this photo released by Brazil Ministry of Defense, a C-130 Hercules aircraft dumps water to fight fires burning in the Amazon

Fires are common during Brazil’s dry season, but this year has set an alarming record. The country’s National Space Research Institute, which monitors deforestation, has recorded more than 77,000 wildfires in Brazil this year. In this photo released by Brazil Ministry of Defense, a C-130 Hercules aircraft dumps water to fight fires burning in the Amazon

‘Thousands of species of plants and animals are being killed, many of them that we don’t even know. The population of nearby cities is suffering terrible damage because they’re breathing that air and it’s causing them respiratory problems. And the rise in deforestation can completely alter the rain patterns by region and devastate agriculture, even in South America.’

Bolsonaro has argued with critics who note that the Amazon produces vast amounts of oxygen and is considered crucial for efforts to contain climate change. 

But Batista predicts the fires will prove a turning point and the pressure by G-7 leaders will shift Bolsonaro’s view on the environment.

Trees that survived a forest fire stand amid smoldering smoke in the Vila Nova Samuel region, along the road to the National Forest of Jacunda, near to the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state

Trees that survived a forest fire stand amid smoldering smoke in the Vila Nova Samuel region, along the road to the National Forest of Jacunda, near to the city of Porto Velho, Rondonia state

Brazil’s federal police agency announced Sunday that it would investigate reports that farmers in the state of Para, one of those most affected by the blazes, had called for ‘a day of fire’ to ignite fires August 10. 

Local news media said a group organized the action over WhatsApp to show support for Bolsonaro’s efforts to loosen environmental regulations.

Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who oversees the police, said on Twitter that Bolsonaro ‘asked for a rigorous investigation’ and said ‘the criminal fires will be severely punished.’

Merkel noted Bolsonaro is putting ‘significant forces’ into the effort to save the rainforest.

But Bolsonaro has had a tense relationship with foreign governments – including Germany’s – and non-governmental groups that he accuses of meddling in his country’s management of the Amazon.

Macron’s office on Friday complained that the Brazilian leader ‘had lied to him’ about environmental commitments.

Asked if he would speak with Macron, Bolsonaro said Saturday: ‘If he calls me, I will answer. I am being extremely well-mannered with him even though he called me ‘a liar’.’

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