By: Alyssa Underwood
A huge cause of these fires is the people in South America themselves. For quite some time now, people in the Amazon countries have been starting fires to easily, but also illegally, deforest the land for cattle ranching. Brazil is the No. 1 exporter of cattle, supplying about one-fourth of the global market. In the Amazon area, there are about 200 million cows, but many of the cattle are only there because of Brazililians starting fires, specifically with the intention to burn down trees.
In late August, the G7 (Group of Seven, seven highly-advanced countries against global issues) met to discuss how they could help out, and French president Emmanuel Macron stated that the group discussed and agreed on donating $22 million to help put out these fires. However, President Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil declined the offer, saying they didn’t need any help because it made the country feel as if it were a colony having to request help from their parent country. Many celebrities, such as Leonardo Di Caprio, Cara Delvigne and Madonna have also raised awareness about the issue and have raised money to be donated to assist in putting out these fires and preventing them from happening again. While all this money has been donated and the G7 is assisting in any way they can, Brazil is still refusing, and the Amazon Rainforest is still burning. It’s very important we still continue to attempt to convince Brazil to accept the money donated because the Amazon Rainforest provides a great amount of oxygen for the world, and without it, humans would suffer greatly. Additionally, it is the home of 20% of the world’s fresh water, and 70% of the plants found to have anticancer properties are found in the rainforest. A very large amount of the world’s food supply comes from the Amazon Rainforest, as well. However, for now, Brazil continues to refuse and continues to cut down trees to make room for cattle ranching, even with the horrible effects it has had on them and the rest of the world. So, should the world leaders have decided to donate more than that $20 million? The answer, in my opinion, is no, at least for now. Because Brazil isn’t accepting the donation and it doesn’t seem like they will anytime soon, there is no need for countries to put aside that much money for what could turn out to be nothing. There is a ton of money that can be used for countries that will actually accept it and can prevent events like this fire from occurring. Although the Brazilians might not be accepting the money any time soon, the $20 million should still be put out there because it’ll be good for President Bolsonaro to have that option of accepting the donation. Eventually, the people of Brazil will realize how necessary this money is and how truly awful the effects of the fire are. It is at that point that President Bolsonaro will accept that money and the world can then consider donating much more needed money.
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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