Brazil fireplanes clearing forest, provoking more fires in Amazon

Six states in Brazil’s Amazon region have requested military help to combat record fires that are tearing through the rainforest, provoking an international outcry because of the Amazon’s central role in combating global warming.

The states of Para, Rondonia, Roraima, Tocantins, Acre and Mato Grosso – out of the region’s nine – have requested military assistance, according to a spokeswoman for the president’s office, a day after President Jair Bolsonaro authorized the military to step in.

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and its protection is seen as vital to the fight against climate change because of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide it absorbs.

Brazil has 44,000 troops stationed in its northern Amazon region that are available to combat forest fires and could send more from elsewhere in the country, said Raul Botelho, the joint chief of staff for the country’s military.