In the height of daytime, the sky suddenly blackened, and day became night in Sao Paulo. Sure, smog is bad in the Western Hemisphere’s largest city, where traffic jams can stretch for dozens of miles. But not this bad. What was going on? Was the end near? — The Washington Post

A combination of meteorological events paired with smoke that had traveled hundreds of miles from intense forest fires in remote parts of the Amazon caused a period of sudden midday darkness in the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere on Monday, reports The Washington Post.

Meanwhile on Twitter, #PrayforAmazonia emerged as a trending hashtag, channeling the global outrage over the lack of media coverage and political action towards the vast forest fires which have been raging in the drought-stricken Amazon rainforest region of Brazil for more than two weeks now.

Fires are burning across central South America. Yesterday #NOAA20's OMPS instrument detected the aerosol index - an index that detects the presence of particles like soot and dust in the atmosphere - in the vicinity of the fires. This can help inform air quality forecasts. https://t.co/lCMwTqWxtA

— Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) (@JPSSProgram) August 19, 2019



Much of the blame for the lack of disaster response is geared towards Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an outspoken proponent of increased logging activity and economic development in the Amazon.



According to the BBC, Bolsonaro, when presented with the data from Brazil's National Space Research Institute that showed the accelerated rate of Amazon deforestation since assuming office on January 1st, he responded "by saying the data 'doesn't relate to the reality' and accused them of smearing the country's reputation abroad."

