Amazon blazes fuel fears of deeper climate crisis

QUERENCIA, Brazil — The Amazon is battling record early-year fires, fueling fears of a worse climate crisis as blazes kill vegetation that is key to absorbing planet-warming carbon dioxide.

Fanned by drought, high winds and human felling, the forest is suffering unprecedented fires early in the year, satellite images show, with the dry season still to reach critical parts of the Amazon.

"Traditional as well as scientific knowledge point to dire times ahead," said Sinea do Vale of the Indigenous Council of Roraima, the Brazilian state worst hit by last month's unprecedented fires. "If emissions do not drop drastically, we will keep suffering."