Wildfires in the Amazon jungle have increased by more than 80% over last year. It’s important to note here that wildfires are not a natural phenomenon in that rainforest – experts have agreed that these fires have largely been caused by landowners setting fire to the land to clear it for agriculture – to create both pasture for livestock and space to plant crops.
From a climate perspective, the widespread destruction of rainforest including the Amazon is highly detrimental. According to an article from The Globe and Mail, “the rainforest is one of the planet’s largest natural carbon sinks, absorbing about one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. When it burns, that CO2 gets released back into the atmosphere, causing global temperatures to rise even further.”
