Over the last month, the Amazon Rainforest has seen fires strip it away at a record rate. According to OpenDemocracy, Brazil at large has experienced 72,000 fire outbreaks in that time and half of them have taken place in the Amazon.
The Guardian reported that these fires are immediately devastating for indigenous peoples in the area with both a serious need and a constitutional right to use that land, but it also has severe implications for the world at large.
As CNN reported, that's because this rainforest produces 20% of the world's oxygen.
But while this destruction is distressing to hear about in any context, it becomes even more disturbing when the evidence suggests that the fires were started intentionally.