‘Lungs of the Planet’ are Burning at a Record Pace

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(Newswire.net — August 23, 2019) — The Brazilian Space Agency reports that the number of wildfires affecting the Amazon rainforest has increased by 83 percent over the past year. To make matters worse, the inferno has been going on for 16 days now. The scale of fires in Brazil is quite catastrophic.

Dense smoke coming from the rainforest even yesterday eclipsed Sao Paulo, 2,700 kilometers away from the flames.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said today that the government lacks funds to fight forest fires in the Amazon.

In a speech that was broadcast live on Facebook, Bolsonaro said that the government was investigating the fires after satellite images showed that rainforests in the Brazilian part of the Amazon were hitting a record number of fires this year.

He also said he believes that NGOs started fires in the forest, stating that he is the only one speaking about his suspicions, Reuters reports.

The media previously reported that Bolsonaro said on Wednesday that NGOs appear to be setting fires in the Amazon rainforests to embarrass his government after cutting funding for them.

Bolsonaro added that everything indicated that the NGOs were causing fires in the rainforests, and when asked if he had evidence to substantiate his claims, he said that there is no written plan for such a thing, CNN reports.

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.

During this time, an alarm was raised on social networks, and among the numerous figures who warned about the horrific situation in South America. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio also expressed a great concern regarding the fires in the Amazon:

“Terrifying to think that the Amazon is the largest rain forest on the planet, creating 20% of the earth’s oxygen, basically the lungs of the world, has been on fire and burning for the last 16 days running, with literally NO media coverage whatsoever! Why?” he shared on Instagram.