Africa forest fires – Where are they and what is happening?
FOREST fires in Africa are now more intense than those burning down large tracts of the Amazon rainforest.
More than one million square miles of woodland is ablaze.
Where are they?
NASA images show the fires appearing to burn across the centre of the continent from Gabon to Angola.
This is in the Congo Basin in an area dubbed as Earth’s “second green lung”.
What is happening?
Over a period of two days last week Angola had three times more fires than Brazil, according to Weather Source.
The stats revealed 902 fires in Angola and 3,395 fires in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, compared with around 2,200 recorded fires in Brazil.
Like the Amazon, the African forests absorb CO2 and are sanctuaries for hundreds of endangered species.
What did French president Emmanuel Macron say?
On Monday Macron announced the leaders of the G7 - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US - would spend $22m (£18m) to fight the Amazon rainforest fires.
But then he drew attention to the African fires with a tweet.
He said: “The forest is also burning in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The leader said he was now "considering the possibility of launching a similar initiative" in sub-Saharan African to the one for the Amazon.
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