Our planet’s lungs are on fire as a record number of fires have burned in the Amazon rainforest this year. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon’s vegetation is responsible for about 20% of the Earth’s atmospheric oxygen.
In Brazil, President Bolsonaro is a far-right, business friendly strongman who has slashed conservationist funding and reversed conservationist efforts. He has dismissed data pointing out the increase in Brazilian Amazonian forest fires & even tried blaming NGO conservation groups for starting fires in revenge for his slashing their funding.
The smoke from current fires is so bad that San Paulo in Brazil has had the sun blotted out during daylight hours.
Al Jazeera’s most current news report on this was clear and succinct. If you’ve only time to read one, please consider checking that one.
Amazon burning: Brazil reports record surge in forest fires
Brazilian Amazon beset by raging fires, prompting fresh scrutiny of President Bolsonaro's environmental stewardship.
Fires raging in Brazil's Amazon rainforest have hit a record high number this year, according to new data from the country's space research agency, as concerns grow over President Jair Bolsonaro's management of the environment.
Nearly 73,000 fires were recorded between January and August, compared with 39,759 in all of 2018, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said on Monday. The surge marks an 83 percent increase over the same period last year and is the highest since INPE records began in 2013.
Satellite images spotted more than 9,500 new forest fires since Thursday alone, mostly in the Amazon basin, home to the world's largest tropical forest and seen as vital to slowing the pace of global warming.
Images showed the northernmost state of Roraima covered in dark smoke, while neighbouring Amazonas declared an emergency in the south of the state and in its capital Manaus over the blazes. Acre, on the border with Peru, has been on environmental alert since Friday due to the fires.
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The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.
It is also home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.
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Conservationists have blamed Mr Bolsonaro for the Amazon's plight, saying he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land, and scientists say the rainforest has suffered losses at an accelerated rate since he took office in January.
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Later he appeared to suggest that non-governmental organisations had set fires, as revenge for his government slashing their funding. He presented no evidence and gave no names to support this theory, saying there were "no written records about the suspicions".
"So, there could be..., I'm not affirming it, criminal action by these 'NGOers' to call attention against my person, against the government of Brazil. This is the war that we are facing," he [Bolsonaro] said in a Facebook Live on Wednesday.
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(CNN)Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, and scientists warn it could strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change.
The fires are burning at the highest rate since the country's space research center, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), began tracking them in 2013, the center said Tuesday.
Environmental groups have long been campaigning to save the Amazon, blaming Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, for the endangerment of the vital rainforest. They accuse him of relaxing environmental controls in the country and encouraging deforestation.
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Environmental activists and organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warn that if the Amazon reaches a point of no return, the rainforest could become a dry savannah, no longer habitable for much of its wildlife. If this happens, instead of being a source of oxygen, it could start emitting carbon -- the major driver of climate change.
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