Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro retained his defiance against calls for prompt action regarding the continuous spreading of fires in the Amazon. His government also referred to reports of the raging fires as an exaggeration.
According to the Associated Press, Bolsonaro fired back against French President Emmanuel Macron as the latter took to Twitter to call out Brazil's work in halting widespread deforestation in the Amazon forests.
Macron noted in his tweet that the area of the planet that produces around 20 percent of earth's total oxygen volumes, is now on fire. He also called on leaders of the Group of 7 nations to step up fast in discussing how to handle the Amazon fires.
In response to Macron's statements, Bolsonaro accused his French counterpart of seeking "personal political gains" in issues that Brazil and its Amazonian member countries should be managing on their own.
Global leaders and environmentalists have been calling on the Brazilian government to do something about deforestation in the Amazon. As part of the efforts in pushing Bolsonaro and his administration to adhere to the call, two countries withheld funding in a deal.
Norway and Germany blocked $60 million in funds for supposed projects that should help improve sustainability in Brazilian forests. Furthermore, the U.N. (United Nations) has expressed fears for the Amazon fires' impact on climate change.
Amid the chaos, Bolsonaro's Chief of Staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, said reports and comments about the severity of the Amazon fires are just being exaggerated by critics and commentators.
Meanwhile, a new report revealed that there are around 2,500 fires active in the Amazon as of August 22. According to BBC, some of the most affected areas are in the North, including the following states: Rondonia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Amazonas, Acre, and Roraima.
The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) revealed that within the first eight months of 2019, there have already been 75,000 forest fires in Brazil, marking a seven-year high that jumped significantly from last year's record of 39,759.
Bolsonaro has been skeptical about the effects of climate change and he previously accused groups who did not support his administration of probably starting the Amazon fires so they could use the issue to taint his reputation.
Business Insider noted that some of the Amazon fires were actually started by tree loggers or farmers who wanted to make use of the Amazonian lands for their farming or industrial purposes.
Aside from raging fires that kicked off early in summer, last month also played hard into the hands of the Amazonian lands. Deforestation hit a record-high in July when the Amazon lost land area that was double the size of Japan's Tokyo.
