Weak rainfall is unlikely to extinguish a record number of fires raging in Brazil's Amazon anytime soon, with pockets of precipitation through to Sept 10 expected to bring only isolated relief, according to weather data and two experts.
The fires tearing through the Amazon represent a “tipping point” for the health of the rainforest, the head of a top global forestry management body said on Wednesday, urging the world to do more to save the trees.
Peru and Colombia proposed on Tuesday an emergency Amazon summit for countries in the region in order to coordinate a strategy to protect the vast rainforest currently blighted by numerous fires. The Amazon is known as the “planet's lungs” but is suffering from its worst outbreak of fires in years, which has sparked a global outcry.
Bolivia's president Evo Morales gave a half-hearted welcome on Tuesday to a G7 pledge of US$20 million to fight the Amazon wildfires, describing it as tiny. An underwhelmed Morales said the aid from the most industrialized countries was part of the world's obligation to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he wants French President Emmanuel Macron to retract “insults” against him before he considers accepting aid from the Group of Seven nations who offered US$20 million to help fight forest fires in the Amazon.
Brazil rejected aid from G7 countries to fight wildfires in the Amazon, with a top official telling French President Emmanuel Macron to take care of “his home and his colonies.”
The G7 will give US$20 million (€18 million) to send firefighting planes to tackle the blazes engulfing parts of the Amazon, the presidents of France and Chile said on Monday.
Hundreds of new fires have flared up in the Amazon in Brazil, data showed on Monday, even as military aircraft dumped water over hard-hit areas and G7 nations pledged to help combat the blazes.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday pledged £10 million (US$12.3 million) to help restore the Amazon rainforest that has been ravaged by fires, sparking a wave of global concern. The money would be made available immediately to help restore the habitat, including areas that have been hit by the fires, the British government said in a statement released at the G7 summit in the French resort of Biarritz.
The record number of fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest has coincided with a sharp drop in fines for environmental violations, BBC analysis has found. Official data from Brazil's environment agency shows fines from January to 23 August dropped almost a third compared with the same period last year.