Social media has been abuzz with the ongoing wildfires in the Amazon rainforest of northern Brazil, pictures of which are going viral on Twitter, igniting a firestorm across the globe. Images show fires purportedly devour sections of the world's largest rainforest in the South American country. #PrayforAmazonas is the top trending hashtag on the micro-blogging site with more than 2,50,000 tweets being posted in regard to the topic till Friday. (All the images are taken from Twitter)
Amazon rainforest has witnessed 75,000 cases of blaze this year, which is more than double the number of fires in Brazil than 2013.
Forest fires tend to intensify during the dry season, which usually ends in late October or early November, as land is cleared to make way for crops or grazing. But the WWF has blamed this year's sharp increase on accelerating deforestation in the Amazon, which is seen as crucial to keeping climate change in check.
The forest has been on fire for the last few days and it is so intense that the smoke from the blaze has covered nearby cities with dark clouds and haze.
The Amazon rainforest fires trigger worries for millions of innocent lives as it is home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.
Meanwhile, President Jair Bolsonaro has made green groups responsible for the blazes, stimulating criticism for his anti-environment rhetoric, which activists blame for emboldening loggers, miners and farmers in the Amazon.
