The plunge — which followed a summer of international attention on the fires, and the Brazilian government’s response to them — caught Amazon watchers by surprise. ADWhy the Amazon is burning, and what it means for climate changeAnalysts said rain and the government response — hundreds of soldiers were dispatched to fight the fires — might have been factors. The overall number of fires in the Amazon biome from January through September was nonetheless 43 percent higher than the same period last year, according to the institute. The increase in fires ignited an extraordinary summer in Brazil. Analysts blame most of it on land grabbers burning the forest to clear land for cattle and soy farms.

Source: Washington Post October 02, 2019 15:38 UTC