A military plane flying over the Amazon rainforest
Brazil’s government have sent in the military to help battle the blaze (Picture: AP)

The Amazon is burning.

The rainforest has been burning for a few days now, and all around the world leaders and politicians have been urging Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro to act.

So just what’s been the cause of the fires – and how much of the rainforest has been damaged?

Here’s what you need to know.

How big is the Amazon rainforest?

The Amazon rainforest covers 2,100,000 square miles, or 5,500,00km².

Around 60% of the rainforest falls within Brazil, with the rest of the forest falling under Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

Why is the Amazon on fire?

The fires are a result of illegal forest clearing to make more farms.

The land clearing reduces the amount and availability of water, heats up the soil and causes intense droughts.

A lone burnt tree stands on a deforested area in the Amazon rainforest
A defiant tree in the face of man-made deforestation (Picture: AFP)

Fires which are then deliberately set to clear land can spread more easily.


Clearing the land for farming has been a problem for decades in Brazil, and is one of the leading causes of deforestation.

How much of the Amazon has burned?

Satellite images showed that at one point since the fires started, there were 9507 fires raging.

According to National Geographic, the Amazon has already lost around 17 percent over the past 50 years.

The full devastation of these fires won’t be known until they can be stopped.

How much of the Amazon is on fire still?

It’s hard to get an accurate figure, as more fires keep burning as others get put out.

Satellite images show that a substantial area is still burning.

Amazon fires Inforgraphic / map Picture: AFP METROGRAB
The huge scale of the fires is seen in this map (Picture: AFP)

How much oxygen comes from the Amazon?

The Amazon produces roughly 20% of the earth’s oxygen, which explains its nickname – ‘the lungs of the Earth.’

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