The world’s largest rainforest Amazon is facing massive fire for past few months! This forest plays an important role in the life of every human being existing on planet earth as it provides almost 20% of oxygen and 55,000 gallons of water to ocean every second.
‘Economically driven by agriculture.’ Researchers and advocates say the wildfires devouring the Brazilian rainforest were set by loggers and cattle ranchers who want to clear and utilize the land, emboldened by the country’s pro-business president.
About 99% of the fire is because of human actions “either on purpose or by accident,” Alberto Setzer, a senior scientist at INPE, Brazil’s space research center, which is using satellite photography to track the fires, told media.
On Wednesday, the country’s environmental minister, Ricardo Salles, tweeted that the fires were caused by dry weather, wind, and heat.
“A lot of these fires in the Amazon are economically driven by agriculture,” said Stephen Donofrio, founder of GreenPoint Innovations and an adviser for Forest Trends, which tracks corporations who have set public goals to address such commodity-driven deforestation.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said there was a strong indication that some NGOs could be setting blazes in retaliation for losing state funds under his only months-old administration.
