Amazon fires: Brazil rejects aid offered by G7 to fight forest blaze

Paris, Aug 27: Brazil has reportedly rejected the aid offered by the G7, the Group of Seven nations, to fight burning across the Amazon region.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had earlier shown reluctance to towards foreign help. He had reportedly accused the foreign governments of meddling in his country's management of the Amazon.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that world leaders at the G7 summit have agreed to help the countries affected by the huge wildfires ravaging the Amazon rainforest as soon as possible. Macron's bid to put the Amazon crisis high on the agenda at the G7 angered Jair Bolsonaro, who lashed out over what he sees as outside interference, denouncing the French leader's "colonialist mentality".

Satellite data has recorded more than 41,000 fires in the Amazon region so far this year - more than half of those this month alone, a The Guardian report said.

The most affected regions are Brazilian states of Amazonas, Rondonia, Para and Mato Grosso. The state of Amazonas is most affected, according to Euronews.

Although about 60 per cent of the Amazon is in Brazil, the vast forest also takes in parts of eight other countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

How did the Amazon rainforest fires start?

Reports quoting experts said more than 74,000 fires were detected between January and August and more than 9,500 forest fires since Thursday, mostly in the Amazon region. However, the natural fires in the Amazon are rare, but it is common for the Amazon to witness fires during the dry season - which runs from July to October.

The relationship between forest fires and climate change is a vicious one. The increase of green house gases leads to global warming and extremities in temprature which can increase chances of forest fires, but the gases discharged in atmosphere due to fires, in turn, increases green house gases.