Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug 23, 2019 / 15:23 pm
Catholics groups in the Amazon have expressed concern over the wave of forest fires that have been ravaging the region.
The NGO Manos Unidas decried the "risks and assaults the Amazon is suffering, which bring with them an accelerated deforestation, toward the increasingly closer point of 'no return,' at which time the disappearance of this 'green lung' of humanity will already be irreversible."
In a statement posted on their webpage, the group reported that the situation is especially serious in Brazil, where in 2019 alone the number of wildfires has increased 82% for a total of 71,497 fires, 54% of which are in the Amazon region.
The NGO considers this especially serious within the context of climate change since "the variations in the rainfall cycles and temperatures are already seriously altering the ecosystems."