- As of August 20, more than 74,000 fires have been recorded across the Brazilian Amazon.
- That’s nearly double the total number of fires in 2018.
- Environmental groups blame Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has indicated that protecting the rainforest is not a priority.
- They say Bolsonaro has emboldened ranchers and farmers to set fire to forests to acquire more land, now with impunity.
- Scientists warn that the results may be devastating. They say the Amazon is near a tipping point, beyond which the forest could turn into a dry savannah.
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See Also:
- The blazes in the Amazon are so big they can be seen from space. One map shows the alarming scale of the fires.
- Amazon fires created a smoke eclipse in the skies above Brazil’s largest city, 2,000 miles away
- Brazil’s president baselessly claimed that NGOs set the Amazon on fire on purpose to make him look bad
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Benji Jones)