The Amazon Is Burning!
The rainforests that have been called the “lungs of the planet” because they produce 20 percent of the world’s oxygen are burning up at a record-setting rate, leading many national leaders and celebrities to send out panicky tweets and other messages implying or stating that these fires are a harbinger of global climate change. Except that this issue is so greatly exaggerated it should be called fake news.
Click image to download a four-page PDF of this policy brief.
Many of the photos people have tweeted out in alarm turn out to be years or decades old. The Amazon rain forests don’t produce 20 percent of the world’s oxygen, says National Geographic, and even if they did, whatever grows back after the fires will continue to pump out oxygen. As for record setting, the fires are only setting a record for the last decade, but they are burning fewer acres than typically burned in the previous decade. Continue reading
