Amazon fires rage, threatening nearby cities

(28 Aug 2019) Fires continued to rage in the Amazon on Wednesday threatening nearby cities and villages, amid growing acrimony between Brazil and European countries seeking to help fight Amazon fires in a region seen as vital to the health of the planet.
About 60% of the Amazon region is in Brazil.
The vast Amazon area also includes Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, an overseas region of France.
Lingering smoke in the Amazon, meanwhile, is reportedly causing increased respiratory problems — particularly among children and the elderly — as fires in the region rage.
Fears over health impacts have been growing with the surge in fires, with more than 83,000 blazes documented by the country's National Space Research Institute since the start of the year.
That's a 77% increase over the same period last year.
About half of the fires occurred in the Amazon region, with most in the past month.
At a summit in France this week, G-7 nations pledged $20 million for the effort, with a separate $12 million from Britain and $11 million from Canada.
Bolsonaro said Wednesday that Brazil is willing to accept "bilateral" offers of aid.
But the president, who took office this year with a promise to boost development in Latin America's biggest economy, has suggested the offers of international aid mask a plot to exploit the Amazon's resources and weaken Brazilian growth.
The world's largest rainforest is a major absorber of carbon dioxide, considered a critical defense against rising temperatures and other disruptions caused by climate change, and it produces a vast amount of water vapor that affects regional weather patterns.
The state hymn of Rondonia takes pride in the region's famously beautiful skies.
Some clouds and a blue sky were partly visible Wednesday.
But then the haze settled again blanketing the horizon with thick smoke that covered the early morning red-blood sun.

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