Fact-check: Rainfall in the Amazon after 2019 wildfires?

 

Three photos have been shared thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts which claim they show rain in the Amazon rainforest in August 2019, following destructive wildfires. The claim is false; the images date back to between 2004 and 2013.

One photo of rain over a verdant forest and winding river was published in this Facebook post on August 22, 2019. It has been shared more than 42,000 times.

The caption states: “It is now raining in amazon. Now tell me there is no God”.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:

The Amazon rainforest has been ravaged by fire since early August, as this AFP report explains.

The same photo was published here on Facebook with an identical claim.

The claim is false; the image dates back to at least 2013.

A reverse image search using TinEye found the photo published here on the website for Brazilian film production company Gullane as part of their 2013 film “Amazonia” about the Amazon rainforest.

The photo appears as the sixth picture in a gallery of images at the bottom of the web page. Below is a screenshot of the picture as it appears on the Gullane website: 

Another misleading post published on Facebook here shared two photos of what appears to be rainfall in a forest. It has been shared more than 12,000 times.

The post's caption states: "It's now raining in Amazon!! Now tell me that there's no God!!"

Below is a screenshot of the second misleading post:

The same images were shared here, here and here on Facebook with a similar claim.

The claim is false. A reverse image search on Google found the first photo in the misleading post published in this April 2009 article on the website for Pesquisa, a Brazilian magazine which specialises in scientific research.

Below is a screenshot of the photo in the article:

The photo was credited to Margi Moss, who wrote on her Facebook account here that she took the photo in 2004 in Acre, a state in northern Brazil. Her Facebook post is embedded below.

A Bing search for the second photo in the misleading post found this YouTube video published on March 27, 2013.

The video's caption translates to English as: "Rain in the PNY forest".

"PNY" refers to the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador.

The video was uploaded by a YouTube account entitled 'EcuadorianAmazonLastMinute JUNGLE TOURS'. It is embedded below.

The photo in the misleading post corresponds with the YouTube video taken at the 22 second mark, as shown below.