Amazon fires: Causes, impact, and prevention strategies

Amazon rainforest facts, species, and threats

The World Wildlife Federation presents a brief overview of the Amazon rainforest, covering key facts like location, size, and importance. An overview of threats includes unsustainable resource extraction, climate change, and poorly planned construction projects.

Interviews with loggers, tribespeople, environmentalists, ranchers, and scientists about Amazon rainforest deforestation.

Around for 10 million years, the Amazon Rainforest might completely disappear before the end of the century. This 10-minute read shares personal accounts from loggers to Indigenous people, with satellite images of the deforestation of a 134,000...

Finance sector has power to help the Amazon rainforest

Read this article to uncover the potential role of the financial industry in addressing deforestation, climate change, and biodiversity loss in the Amazon rainforest. The finance sector can significantly contribute to conservation efforts by...

Nonprofits strive to replant the Amazon and slow global warming

This article explores the efforts of nonprofit organizations like Rioterra in reforesting the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change. Their goal is enormous: reforest an area twice the size of Germany, costing over 20 billion dollars. In order...

The current state of Amazon rainforest deforestation

Scientists say the Amazon rainforest is approaching between 20%-25% deforestation, a critical tipping point at which the damage is irreversible. Demand for beef and soy are the main drivers.

Infographic illustrates the diverse and fragile Amazon ecosystems

This infographic helps readers better understand the vast rivers, forests, plants, and animals that call the Amazon rainforest home. Home to the largest collection of plant and animal species in the world, the Amazon rainforest has 16 thousand known...

Brief article explaining why the Amazon rainforest might now produce more carbon dioxide than it absorbs

Climate change and deforestation may have transformed the Amazon rainforest into a net source of planet-warming gases instead of a carbon sink, according to Smithsonian magazine.

Impact of Brazil's politics on the Amazon rainforest

In this seven-minute podcast, Andrew Limbong speaks with environmental researcher Erika Berenguer about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s ambitions to save the Amazon Rainforest from deforestation.

NASA satellite data and sound recordings used to assess rainforest health

This two-minute video describes the work of scientists who are analyzing the impact of repeated forest fires in the Amazon by recording the unique sounds in degraded forests. The team is using acoustic sensors to record sounds of wildlife in the...

Explore Amazon rainforest species in this interactive

Explore plant and animal species from different parts of the rainforest, including the canopy, forest floor, and river basin while learning some general facts specific to the Amazon rainforest.

Amazon deforestation down by a third in 2023

Read this article to understand how Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who started his term on January 1, 2023, has been successful in reducing deforestation in the Amazon region. Deforestation dropped by 33.6% in the first six months of...

Photos and descriptions of unique plants found in the Amazon rainforest

It’s the plants that provide homes for the incredible diversity of Amazon animals. Read about 29 of the most fascinating Amazon rainforest plants.

Amazon has historically opposed efforts among its employees to unionize

Amazon has done everything from creating mandatory anti-union meetings to hiring union-busting consultants, and even engaging in employee surveillance. Such efforts have proven to be a lightning rod for pro-labor groups.

Bezos has frequently cited a 1999 article titled Amazon.bomb to illustrate how dire the early predictions about Amazon got

Over the years, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos often recalls how wrong the predictions in the 1999 Barron’s cover story were. Among other things, that article declared Amazon’s entire business model to be unsustainable and destined to fail, noting its lack of profit and dependence on a massive amount of capital to fund its growth.

Indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest

Indigenous people have unrivalled knowledge of plants and animals and play a crucial role in conserving biodiversity. Protecting their rights preserves this unique knowledge.

Amazon's success is attributable, in large part, to founder Jeff Bezos’ vision

Bezos parlayed a career on Wall Street into founding an online bookstore that would evolve into the largest online retailer in the world. Bezos’ story is characterized by his relentless focus on innovation and on the customer experience at Amazon.

Amazon has experienced relentless, if occasionally bumpy, growth since its founding

From its founding in 1994 to a slew of acquisitions and new products and services launched in the decades since then, Amazon has experienced relentless, if occasionally bumpy, growth. This timeline from The Verge lays out some of the major events in the company’s story, including its IPO, rollout of its lucrative cloud-computing division, and much more.

4-minute overview of gold mining in the Amazon rainforest

A 2022 NBC news investigation of gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Much of the $3B in illegal gold is trafficked to the US every year.

From 2001 to 2023, the need to expand cattle grazing pastures to meet global demand for beef has been the primary driver of deforestation.

The ritual burns of California forests

Many ecosystems around the world have adapted to regularly occurring wildfires. Some human cultures saw the advantage of such fires and integrated them into their community rituals. Learn about similar tribal traditions looking to better manage California's forests today.

These animals are only found in the Amazon rainforest.

The mighty Amazon River and its surrounding rainforest is home to millions of different species of animals, with new ones being discovered regularly.

A third of Americans now live in wildfire risk zones

Climate change and human development into fire-prone regions have extended the wildfire season, with some areas experiencing fire conditions year-round. Extreme conditions, poor compensation, and exposure to carcinogens have complicated firefighter recruitment, further exacerbating wildfire risks.

Take a virtual tour through the Amazon Basin

Thanks to Google Maps’ Street View feature, people can virtually explore the Amazon River basin and its surroundings—part of the Amazon rainforest that is under the protection of the Brazilian government with restricted access to the public. The...

How the California wildfires are impacting wildlife

The deadly 2025 Eaton and Palisades Fires in California have devastated neighborhoods, forested canyons and chaparral—a type of shrubland. In addition to taking dozens of human lives and displacing thousands, the fires destroyed countless habitats and displaced many species. See the unfortunate effects of the flames on wildlife populations, including birds, snakes, wildcats, and fish.

Amazon has fulfillment centers all over the world

Amazon fulfillment centers are the large warehouses where products that customers have ordered are stored, packed, and shipped. In order to efficiently manage inventory and process millions of orders each day, the centers rely heavily on advanced technology and robotics.

How fighting wildfires works

Firefighters use sophisticated strategies to control wildfires that sometimes cover thousands of acres. This video breaks down how teams set up fire lines to isolate the fires by cutting down brush and trees around the existing fire, among other...

Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model

Central to any understanding of the multifaceted nature of Amazon's business today is the concept of the "flywheel" at the heart of the company. Put simply, it's an idea that refers to a self-reinforcing cycle that drives the continuous growth of Amazon's various businesses, including its retail arm, its Prime subscription service, and more.

What threats are the tundra facing?

This article discusses the threats endangering the tundra, including climate change, air pollution, and human industrial activities. Climate change is causing permafrost in the tundra to thaw, releasing greenhouse gases and contributing to a cycle...

A primer on the environmental impact of fishing and overfishing

Learn why overfishing is a problem and what are some solutions to reduce fishing's environmental impact while maintaining vital sources of food and livelihoods.

Amazon expanded its business and diversified its offerings by acquiring companies

Amazon’s retail and cloud businesses have been key drivers of the company’s growth over the years, but they haven’t done all the work by themselves. Companies Amazon has acquired include the video doorbell maker Ring, the grocer Whole Foods, the streaming service Twitch, the shoe retailer Zappos, and the film studio MGM.

Amazon's largest profit engine is its cloud-computing platform Amazon Web Services, which generated over 60% of Amazon's total operating income in 2024.

Rising wildfire smoke can create 'fire clouds'—towering clouds that can help combat fires through downbursts of rain or complicate firefighting efforts by triggering new fires via lightning strikes.

Climate science 101: climate change, its impacts, and potential solutions

How do we know that this warming is happening and that it’s caused by humans? How strong is the evidence? What risks can we expect and what can we do about them?

One of the most important pieces of Amazon’s corporate empire? Its Prime subscription business

Prime drives customer loyalty and boosts Amazon’s revenue through its monthly and yearly fees. The key components included with a Prime subscription include free two-day shipping on eligible items, as well as access to services like Amazon Music and Prime Video.

Amazon sends its first-ever letter to shareholders every year

The first letter to Amazon’s shareholders, written by founder and then-CEO Jeff Bezos in 1997, is a key part of the Amazon story—laying out the company’s long-term approach to the business and several of its core operating values. Bezos emphasizes, for example, Amazon’s plan to start with a bookstore but to evolve into a much larger ecosystem.

Climate tipping points are irreversible changes to Earth's environment

Earth's natural systems have prevented these events—including the mass death of coral reefs, loss of the Amazon rainforest, and shutdown of Atlantic currents—but scientists believe they are unlikely to withstand continued stressors from climate change.

Fireworks contribute to air, water, and soil contamination and disrupt wildlife

Fireworks displays have far-reaching environmental consequences, including acid rain from displays during storms and microplastic pollution in water supplies. Wildlife has also been seen abandoning sites during fireworks and never returning.

The surprising world of coal seam fires

Hundreds of coal seam fires are actively smoldering around the world at any given time, including some that have stayed lit for centuries. These fires have occurred naturally for millions of years, lit atop deposits of coal in the earth. Dive into...

Amazon accounts for roughly 40% of all US online retail sales—a much larger piece of the pie than its competitor Walmart

Although Walmart is roughly 30 years older than Amazon, the e-commerce giant has a significant lead in online US retail sales: Walmart's share is roughly 7%. Season 33 of the podcast "Business Wars," hosted by David Brown, is all about one of the most intense rivalries in all of retail.

The largest river on Earth is actually in the sky

High above the canopy of the Amazon rainforest drifts an airborne river fed by the towering trees below. The trees pull water from their roots into their trunks, pushing any excess water out of their leaves and into the atmosphere as vapor. Watch this six-minute video to learn how.

Lightning may kill as many as 320 million trees each year

Ignoring the effects of tree loss resulting from lightning-induced wildfires, researchers at the Technical University of Munich developed a quantitative model to estimate the loss of these organisms due to cloud-to-ground strikes, based on global lightning data and forest structure. They expect the estimate to rise due to increased strikes resulting from climate change.

Restoring desert ecosystems: Successes, failures, and ongoing efforts

This article discusses ecological restoration in desert environments, focusing on the various techniques and challenges related to restoring desert ecosystems. In the complex endeavor of desert restoration, experts attempt to pinpoint the most...

Invasive species can harm infrastructure and threaten human health

The wildfires in Hawaii in 2022 were made worse by flammable invasive grasses introduced from Africa as livestock pasture, and Zebra mussels native to the Caspian and Black Seas have spread across Europe and the US, where they can clog power plant pipes. Invasive mosquitoes can carry diseases, such as dengue and malaria.

Favorable conditions for wildfires are becoming more frequent in the western US

A new study of the American West shows that climate change is driving more days that are hot, dry, and windy—the perfect conditions for deadly wildfires.

See how a 2018 fire in Paradise, California, exposed the limits of emergency coordination

This Frontline documentary shows how the Camp Fire stretched and ultimately overwhelmed the complex web of agencies involved in emergency response, including fire suppression, 911 dispatch, law enforcement, and emergency management, with catastrophic results.

In 1994, Amazon was founded as an online bookseller

Books were just the start, as founder Jeff Bezos' ultimate goal was to create an "everything store," using the internet to transcend the physical limitations of brick-and-mortar retail. The Seattle-based Amazon gradually added CDs and consumer electronics, becoming a dominant e-commerce player in the late 1990s, and one of the few dot-com companies to make it through the bust.

Volatile chemical contamination can last in burn areas long after urban wildfires

Lead, arsenic, asbestos, and other chemicals have been found trapped in smoke-exposed rugs, couches, pillows, and other furniture that appeared otherwise undamaged from the 2025 LA wildfires. The gradual release of these substances has produced dangerous indoor air concentrations and contributed to increased emergency room visits and abnormal blood tests.

The Amazon rainforest is considered the 'lungs of the Earth,' but it contributes less than a quarter of the oxygen of phytoplankton—microscopic plants, algae, and bacteria capable of photosynthesis.

Henry Ford once ran a failed rubber plantation in Brazil's Amazon Rainforest

In 1927, Henry Ford bought 2.5 million acres of land off the Amazon River in Brazil, with the intention of creating an American-style Ford factory to produce the rubber needed for tires. The development, known as Fordlandia, was never able to produce enough rubber, and Fordlandia was officially shut down in 1945.

What’s the best way to reduce climate impact of food?

Food is a big part of everyone’s carbon footprint, and it’s important to understand the impact of our personal food consumption. Individual food choices can emit as many greenhouse gases as personal electricity use. Plant-based diets generally...