Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (AFP) – Brazil recorded 13,489 wildfires in the first half of the year in the Amazon, the worst figure in 20 years, satellite data revealed Monday.

The total was up 61 percent as compared with the same period last year — an increase that experts say is the result of a historic drought that struck the world’s largest tropical rainforest last year.

lg/sst/des

© Agence France-Presse

Featured image credit: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service | Public Domain (Note: “The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.”)

Image: small bird standing on a patch of grass
UTA biologist wins national fellowship to study historic pollutionScience

UTA biologist wins national fellowship to study historic pollution

By Greg Pederson | University of Texas at Arlington A biology researcher at The University of Texas at Arlington has received a prestigious grant to…
SourceSourceJuly 17, 2024 Full article
Satellite Image: Saharan dust plume over northwest Africa and the eastern Atlantic Ocean (17 February 2026)
Image of the day: Dust from the Sahara sweeps over the AtlanticNews

Image of the day: Dust from the Sahara sweeps over the Atlantic

In mid-February 2026, a dense cloud of Saharan dust spread across the eastern Atlantic, as winds carried fine desert particles westward from northwest Africa. A…
Muser NewsDeskMuser NewsDeskFebruary 20, 2026 Full article
Image: Flooded road near Windsor, Western Sydney, NSW, Australia (July 5, 2022) (s. floods, climate change)
Record floods devastate eastern AustraliaNews

Record floods devastate eastern Australia

Taree, Australia | AFP Record floods cut a destructive path through eastern Australia on Friday, caking houses in silt, washing out roads and separating 50,000…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2025 Full article