Brazilian Jair Bolsanaro calls new Amazon fires a “lie” – as videos show the rainforest burning

Fires currently burning in the Amazon rainforest could be even more destructive than last year, but the Brazilian government denies that they even exist. On Tuesday, President Jair Bolsonaro called the fires a “lie” – because photos and videos from the region burned the forest.

Fires in the Amazon for the month of August hit a nine-year high in 2019 – but this month seems to be on track to top the record again. Officials registered more than 10,000 fires in the first 10 days of the month, up 17% from that time last year, according to data from INPE, a federal institute that controls fires.

According to Reuters, members of the Leticia Pact, an agreement between South American countries to protect the Amazon, met on Tuesday. While talking to other leaders, Bolsonaro angrily denied the existence of the fires, challenging officials to fly across the Amazon and try to find a single flame.

“They will not find a place of fire, nor a quarter of an acre of deforestation,” he told Reuters. “This story that the Amazon is going up in flames is a lie and we have to fight it with true numbers.”

Also during the speech, Bolsanaro said that Brazil does not need help protect the Amazon, claiming that the majority of the forest still stands. He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture and that his confession had been obtained through torture.

Bolsonaro used a similar tactic last year, arguing with world leaders when massive fires were raging in the rainforest received worldwide attention. At the moment, he fired the head of INPE, Ricardo Galvao, who is defending the bureau’s data on the destruction of the fires.

But the fires do not occur naturally. Experts say most of them are manly to clear land for agriculture.

Deforestation increased almost 35% from July 2019 to July 2020, despite the government’s alleged efforts to combat it.

In June, 34 major international investors put pressure on the Brazilian government to protect the forest, threatening to divide Brazilian companies if no changes were made, Reuters reported. A federal decree on July 16 banned deforestation for 120 days in the Amazon during the region’s dry season.

Despite the ban, July saw 6,803 fires, compared to 5,318 a year ago – an increase of almost 30%.

The Bolsonaro administration has been vocal about them intentions to develop the Amazon. In May, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles of the country said the government should loosen environmental regulations while the world is diverted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Conserving the world’s largest rainforest is vital to combating climate change. The dense collection of trees is annually responsible for absorbing about 5% of the world’s CO2 emissions.

Scientists warn that it may only take a few years before the ecosystem reaches a tipping point and transition into an open savannah, with much less chance of absorbing greenhouse gases and buffering the Earth against climate change.