There is currently a furor on social media and the news over what is occurring in the Amazon rainforest, the second-largest biome in the world. Not only are a store of exotic animals and fauna threatened, the carbon input and oxygen output of the forest have an immense effect on the environment, which decreases the rate of global warming.

According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), a unit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, fires are up 80 percent this year compared to the same time period last year.

Who's to Blame?

There is a blame game going on over the true cause of the fires. Some environmentalists and activists are blaming Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration is accused of not doing enough to combat deforestation. Bolsonaro, for his part, has suggested that non-governmental organizations and nonprofits are to blame, deliberately setting fire to the rainforest because they have lost money and want to embarrass his administration.