On Monday afternoon, the entire city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, went totally dark — it turns out, the city was buried in smoke carried in by strong winds coming from forest fires burning almost 1.700 miles away.
According to Reuters, Brazil’s space research center INPE detected almost 72,843 wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest
(This photo was taken during Amazon rainforest fires in 1989)
The research center says that their satellite data also showed an 83 percent increase on the same period in 2018, proving that this year the Amazon rainforest has suffered a record number of fires.
The citizens of Sao Paulo were horrified as they witnessed daylight completely blacked out by the smoke, one Twitter user said: “Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke.”
Here’s a wider shot of ominous smoke covering the city during the day.
One Twitter user referenced Gotham City in this dreary photo of the city.
Then there was the matter of the black rain.
The blackout lasted for about an hour and came from the fires burning in the states of Amazonas and Rondonia.
Several citizens collected the rainwater that fell from the skies.
As you can see, the fire has managed to damage the local environment even without being present.
And they were not the only ones to notice the increased fire activity. NASA released photos taken from space, which shows the smoke surrounding the Amazon rainforest.
Although the Amazon has been relatively fire-resistant due to its natural moisture and humidity, wildfires have still increased during the last few decades, and the cause is being attributed to a combination of drought and human activity.
Experts also attribute this year’s increase on Brazil’s new president Jair Boisonaro who took office in January vowing to develop the Amazon region for mining and farming, while ignoring the increased deforestation.
This thermal image gives you a good idea of how big these fires are.
The above map displays the current CO concentration level in South America.
Here are a few reactions from folks around the web.
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What do you think of what’s going on in Brazil? Is global warming a factor? Let us know in the comments section, and please be sure to share this story.