Fires in the Amazon: a barrier to climate change up in smoke

Fires in the Amazon: a barrier to climate change up in smoke

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Fire is not natural in the Amazon. Virgin rainforest, no matter how fierce the sun, is too wet to catch alight. If the forest burns it is almost always because of humans.

In August, around the peak of the so-called "queimadas" as the burning season here is known, the number of fires in Brazil's Amazon jumped to its highest since 2010.

. Realidade, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
Logs cut from the rainforest are laid out near the BR-319 highway in the city of Realidade.

Fire is the second stage in clearing the forest, usually for raising cattle. First, choice woods are cut and sold, then the rest is burned. It is cheap, it is effective, and it is hard to catch those responsible.

Cutting down the forest is illegal without permission, and using fire is against the law except in exceptional circumstances.

. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly
Smoke billows from a fire near Porto Velho.

Yet fire is changing the landscape.

The latest data from August 2018 through July 2019 showed more rainforest was cleared than at any point in the past 11 years. An area larger than Puerto Rico was cut down. Preliminary figures suggest the rate has increased since.

. Boca Do Acre, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly
Burnt trees stand within a tract after a fire in Boca do Acre.

Three teams of Reuters journalists spent weeks travelling thousands of miles across the world's largest tropical rainforest this year, witnessing the devastation of what scientists regard as a vital protection against climate change.

. Humaita, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
Smoke rises into the nights sky during a fire near Humaita.

On the Trans-Amazonian highway, near the river port of Humaita, the August night sky did not go dark. The flames from a forest fire, stretching into the distance beside the road, glowed a dusky yellow. For days it burned.

. Amarante, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
A Guajajara Indian "forest guardian" stands by a fire at a loggers camp near the city of Amarante.

Some people have taken protecting the forest into their own hands. Reuters spent seven days with an indigenous vigilante group fighting to keep illegal loggers off their land in the state of Maranhao.

. Amarante, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
"Forest guardians" detain a logger during a search for illegal loggers on Arariboia indigenous land near the city of Amarante.

One night in September, alerted by the rumble of heavy trucks, six Guajajara tribesmen – faces painted for battle – rushed to ambush a group of loggers.

At a choke point in the local network of rutted dirt roads, they lay in wait, a 4x4 blocking the road, rifles and handguns at the ready.

When the trucks arrived, the loggers, who numbered around eight, were first to fire. The Guajajara shot back, forcing the loggers to scatter into the forest. The indigenous warriors burnt the trucks, piled high with freshly cut lumber.

. Amarante, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
Paulo Paulino Guajajara draws water from a well at a loggers camp near the city of Amarante.

One of the men that night was Paulo Paulino Guajajara. He knew it was dangerous work and spoke frankly of his fear. "I'm scared at times, but we have to lift up our heads and act. We are here fighting," he said.

Four weeks later, he was dead. Members of his tribe said loggers had shot him through the head.

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Slideshow

A house stands in front of a burning tract as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A house stands in front of a burning tract as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Porto Velho.

Billows of smoke rise over a deforested plot in Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino

Billows of smoke rise over a deforested plot in Porto Velho.

An aerial view looks over a burning tract as it is cleared by farmers in Itaituba, Para.
. Itaituba, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

An aerial view looks over a burning tract as it is cleared by farmers in Itaituba, Para.

A truck drives through a deforested plot in Boca do Acre.
. Boca Do Acre, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

A truck drives through a deforested plot in Boca do Acre.

An aerial view shows a deforested plot near Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

An aerial view shows a deforested plot near Porto Velho.

Remains of trees lie on the ground of a burnt tract near Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Remains of trees lie on the ground of a burnt tract near Porto Velho.

Eliane Muller walks next to a burnt tract as it is cleared by farmers, after the fire hit 2 acres from her cassava plantation in Rio Pardo.
. Rio Pardo, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Eliane Muller walks next to a burnt tract as it is cleared by farmers, after the fire hit 2 acres from her cassava plantation in Rio Pardo.

The carcass of a cow lies along a tract as it is cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino

The carcass of a cow lies along a tract as it is cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho.

A cow stands in front of a burning tract as it is cleared by loggers and farmers in Apui.
. Apui, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

A cow stands in front of a burning tract as it is cleared by loggers and farmers in Apui.

Pedro Mura, who is part of the Indigenous Mura tribe, reacts in front of a deforested area in nondemarcated indigenous land inside the Amazon rainforest, near Humaita.
. Humaita, Brazil. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino

Pedro Mura, who is part of the Indigenous Mura tribe, reacts in front of a deforested area in nondemarcated indigenous land inside the Amazon rainforest, near Humaita.

Employees relax in a camp inside the Bom Retiro deforestation area on the right side of the BR 319 highway near Humaita.
. Humaita, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

Employees relax in a camp inside the Bom Retiro deforestation area on the right side of the BR 319 highway near Humaita.

Jose, 2, plays while a fire burns in the distance as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Jose, 2, plays while a fire burns in the distance as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Porto Velho.

A Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) fire brigade member attempts to control hot points during a fire at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land.
. Tenharim Marmelos, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

A Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) fire brigade member attempts to control hot points during a fire at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land.

Smoke from a burning tract rises into the distance behind a cabin near Porto Velho.
. Porto Velho, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

Smoke from a burning tract rises into the distance behind a cabin near Porto Velho.

A tree trunk is engulfed in flames during a fire in Itapua do Oeste.
. Itapua Do Oeste, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

A tree trunk is engulfed in flames during a fire in Itapua do Oeste.

IBAMA fire brigade members attempt to control hot points during a fire at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land.
. Tenharim Marmelos, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

IBAMA fire brigade members attempt to control hot points during a fire at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land.

A tract burns at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land.
. Tenharim Marmelos, Brazil. Reuters/Bruno Kelly

A tract burns at Tenharim Marmelos Indigenous Land.