There were at least 74,155 wildfires in Brazil from January to August 2019, which represents the highest number of wildfires since Brazil began to collect data in 2013, according to Brazil's space agency, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE),[1] which uses satellites to monitor fires.[2] Almost two-thirds of the Amazon basin lies within Brazil's borders[3] and over half the wildfires occurred in the Amazon rainforest,[1][4][5][6] the world's largest rainforest which is considered to be "vital to countering global warming."[7][8] There are fires burning in the rainforest in the four Brazilian Amazonian states Amazonas, Rondonia, Mato Grosso and Pará.