A fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed in the past half-century, farmers have been burning down parts of it for farmland, and now the amount of fires started is more than ever. 

 The Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen, with it burning down, scientists predict it will cause health problems, less oxygen, more carbon dioxide means an increase in global warming. The Amazon forest has thousands of different animal species and over 50,000 types of plants and trees. The Amazon has one of the largest diversity of life on the planet.

 People are burning the Amazon for many reasons. 40% is because of pasture (cattle ranching). 30-40% is small and large scale agriculture. 5-8% is logging.

 The number of fires recorded is more than double than in 2013 (39,584 fires), Now in 2019, there have been 80,626 fires recorded.   

 Last year Brazil elected a new president, Jair Boslonaro, and the situation is only getting worse. The president decreased the protection laws for the rainforest. Many people are protesting against burning the rainforest.

 We interviewed some students and they said this is wrong and it has to be stopped. Isabel Gillay, West seventh-grader, stated, “This is sad because there are thousands of species in the Amazon, and they know nothing about escaping fires.”