Experts say this year is on track to be as bad as 2020, when fires razed more than 19 million acres of the world's largest tropical forest. Conservation advocates aren't counting on help from the government of Brazil, which is home to some 60 percent of the Amazon.

Is the Amazon still on fire 2020?

In 2020, more than 2,500 major fires burned across the Brazilian Amazon between late May and early November, according to MAAP. Although the majority of the 2020 fires burned on cleared lands, a startling new trend emerged—more than 41% of major fires occurred in standing Amazon rainforest.

How did the Amazon catch on fire?

What caused this? Forest fires do happen in the Amazon during the dry season between July and October. They can be caused by naturally occurring events, like lightning strikes, but this year most are thought to have been started by farmers and loggers clearing land for crops or grazing.