NASA animation shows Amazon fires turning atmosphere from green to red with carbon monoxide

Two satellite images released by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show smoke from a wildfire raging in the Amazon rainforest, according to Globalnews.ca.com.

The number of wildfires burning in the region has hit a record high in 2019.

The wildfires blazing in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has turned Earth’s atmosphere from green to red with heavy concentrations of carbon monoxide according to an animation that was tweeted by NASA on Friday afternoon, reports Globalnews.ca.com.

The animation was produced using data from the space agency’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, which is located on the Aqua satellite at an altitude of approximately 5,500 metres.

Green represents carbon monoxide at a concentration of 100 parts per billion (ppbv), while yellow suggests 120 parts per billion, and dark red signifies 160 parts per billion.

The graphic shows clouds of red coalescing in the sky over Brazil before they travel west and east, over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, respectively.

NASA noted that pollutants can travel great distances, and that carbon monoxide in particular can remain in the atmosphere for as long as a month.

“At the high altitude mapped in these images, the gas has little effect on the air we breathe,” the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a press release.

“However, strong winds can carry it downward to where it can significantly impact air quality.”

The wildfires are believed to have been caused by cattle ranchers burning trees in order to create more land for their cows.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been blamed for emboldening them to do so after he said he would not add any more territory to Indigenous reserve land.

He has authorised the military to tackle the fires while environmentalists have protested against his policies.

The rainforest wildfires are expected to form a topic of discussion at the G7 meeting in Biarritz, France this weekend — both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron have expressed their hope that delegates will talk about it.

However, Greenpeace has said that leaders there can’t let the fires distract people from their own plans to combat climate change.

Canada’s plan was ranked among the worst of the G7, alongside in the United States, in a report by the Climate Action Network.