The Amazon Rainforest Fires: Explained According to the BBC, there are <br />currently more than 2,500 fires <br />burning in the Brazilian rainforest. The fires are burning in <br />several Brazilian states, <br />including Para, Mato Grosso, <br />Rondonia and Amazonas. Most of the fires are thought to <br />have been started by humans <br />attempting to clear land for farming <br />and ranching during the dry season. Brazilian right-wing nationalist president <br />Jair Bolsonaro made claims that the fires <br />were started by non-governmental <br />organizations because of reduced funding. He later stated he <br />made no such claims. The fires could be adding to a vicious cycle of climate <br />change in which the blazes add to greenhouse gasses. This leads to rising temperatures, which leads to longer <br />dry seasons, which leads to more devastating fires. Referred to as the "lungs of the earth," <br />the rainforests of Brazil generate more <br />than 20% of all the oxygen in <br />the world. Smoke from the fires has <br />traveled about 1,700 miles <br />and can be seen in Argentina. <br />The fires are also visible from space. U.S. President Donald Trump <br />has joined other nations of the <br />world in offering assistance to <br />Brazil in putting out the fires. #ActForTheAmazon has been trending <br />on Twitter. Protests against what has <br />been viewed as inaction by President <br />Bolsonaro have sprung up all over the world.
