AUG 24 WHO IS TO BLAME FOR AMAZON WILDFIRES?

AUG 24  WHO IS TO BLAME FOR AMAZON WILDFIRES?

It's hard to tell which is hotter: The wildfires burning in the Amazon Rainforest or the anger raging on the Internet in response. "Notre Dame burns; billions donated. Amazon burns; no one cares!" noted TeresaG64 on Twitter. Celebs like Madonna, Leo DiCaprio and Cristian Ronaldo all posted heartbreaking pix and Instagram. (Unfortunately, they were from a fire in California.) To help our readers sort out fact from fiction, let's see who really is to blame..

JAIR BOLSONARO? Brazil's president is the obvious target. Elected with an pro-business, anti-environment agenda, he has delivered on campaign promises. Ridiculing climate change, he weakened requirements for agribusiness permits. This led to unprecedented amount of slash-and-burn. In his first term alone, 1,330 square miles of rainforest were lost. Brazil is challenging the USA to become the world's #1 producer of beef, and grazing land is needed.

MOTHER NATURE? "Not so fast!" replies Bolsonaro. Brazilian officials are quick to remind the world that neighboring nations like Bolivia and Paraguay are also ablaze. Why? This year is an unprecedentedly bad Dry Season. Parched conditions like these result in surprisingly large fires. Combined with an oddly strong winds, smoke from the fires has covered Sao Paolo in haze. Here's the kicker: Sao Paolo is a staggering 2,000 miles away from the flames!

BAD TIMING? It's true, 2019 turned out to be the wrong year to initiate Bolsonaro's new agribusiness policy. Instead of clearing a thousand square miles, things got out of control. Seven enormous states are struggling to survive. Over 2,500 fires are raging, an 85% increase over last year. This means a football field burns every minute. Brazil's largest state, Amazonas, declared a state of emergency. Globally speaking, the fires have released 228 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since the rainforest is essential in absorbing carbon emissions, it's a double-whammy.

The GOOD NEWS is despite Bolsonaro's nationalistic banter ("The Amazon belongs to Brazil"), the renegade president is learning something else: Brazil is part of Planet Earth as well. Led by French President Marcon, an international deluge of anger has flooded Brasilia. Frozen aid will be followed by sanctions and boycotts. This has forced Jair to change course. Army troops are being dispatched and international help is arriving soon. Let's just hope it's not too late..