Alarmed Brazilians have declared an 'apocalypse' as the worst rainforest fires in history ravage the Amazon, plunging a city into darkness.

The world was stunned when the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo experienced a dramatic daytime blackout caused by smoke from out-of-control fires in the Amazon rainforest this week.

But there’s an even more terrifying side to the disaster that has been largely overlooked.

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The world’s largest rainforest is home to approximately one million indigenous people as well as around three million animal and plant species.

That means lives are literally at stake.

THE AMAZON

The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, an immense area spanning 5.5 million square kilometres.

The Amazon is located in nine different countries — Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana and Brazil — although 60 per cent is located within Brazil’s borders.

#AmazonRainforest

Just in case anyone was wondering what the coming of the apocalypse would look like... pic.twitter.com/mlu59rUukk — Jake Page (@JakePage17) August 21, 2019

It has existed for around 55 million years and has been dubbed the “Lungs of the Planet” as it produces more than 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen.

HOW BAD IS IT?

Fires are common in Brazil at this time of the year as a result of low humidity and high temperatures.

However, the sheer number of fires this year is unprecedented.

According to Brazil’s own space research centre Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), around 74,000 fires have been spotted in 2019 so far — an 83 per cent jump from the same period last year.

It’s the biggest number of individual fires since records began in 2013, with 9507 new fires detected in the Amazon Basin in the past week, according to TIME.

The INPE records outbreaks of fire via satellite, which means the fires raging at the moment are so significant they can be seen from space.

The current fires have been burning for several weeks already — and according to the INPE, more than one-and-a-half soccer fields’ worth of Amazon rainforest are now being destroyed every minute.

The #PrayForAmazonia hashtag is trending on Twitter as the world realises the extent of the disaster, and the state of Amazonas has declared a state of emergency.

While the exact cause of the fires are not known, experts agree humans are to blame.

“There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average,” INPE researcher Alberto Setzer told Reuters.

“The dry season creates the favourable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident.”

Others have claimed the fires were likely to have been caused by people clearing land for farming or ranching.

THREAT TO LIVES

It is believed around one million indigenous people from up to 500 tribes live within the Amazon.

While most have contact with the wider world and have lifestyles that include both modern and traditional elements, it is understood there are still many tribes that have never been contacted.

People are deliberately starting fires in the #AmazonRainforest to illegally deforest indigenous land for cattle ranching



Pataxó woman:

“These assholes came in and burned down [our reservation]... I want all of the media here to see this” pic.twitter.com/uGFp7RItHK — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) August 21, 2019

While many of these people could be in the direct path of the fires, the Amazon’s global role in oxygen production could mean the fires have a far wider reach.

ANIMALS IN DANGER

The Brazilian Amazon is home to a staggering number of unique animals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians as well as trees and plants that are now under threat.

A small example of rainforest animals includes sloths, howler monkeys, toucans and macaws, jaguars, tarantulas and caimans.

The Amazon rainforest has been burning for weeks at a record rate - adding to an already alarming level of deforestation.



Read more here: https://t.co/TT10BEnftt pic.twitter.com/03D62qEyVV — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 21, 2019

There are so many plant and animal species within the rainforest it is believed may haven’t even been discovered yet.

According to Britannica, a typical 4046sq m area could hold more than 250 tree species.

As ecologist and Amazon expert Adriane Muelbert told National Geographic, massive wildfires like the current disaster could become more common if deforestation continues, which would affect the globe.

“It’s a tragedy … a crime against the planet and a crime against humankind,” she said.