The Amazon Rainforest has been burning at alarming rates in the past few weeks. Currently 72,843 fires have been reported in Brazil this year and 41,858 in the Brazilian Amazon. This doesn’t include fires occurring in other countries in the Amazon. The fires are largely intentionally set to clear land to be developed for agriculture. Forest fires and burns for clearing occur each year during the dry season throughout the region, but not at a rate this great. This year, the blame for the increase in fires is largely due to new president Jair Bolsonaro.

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