Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro ignited a Twitter storm Wednesday by accusing world leaders of “sensationalizing” the record number of wildfires burning in the Amazon rain forest. French president Emmanuel Macron tweeted that leaders should discuss the emergency within the first two days at the upcoming G7 summit in France this weekend. Bolsonaro fired back, tweeting, “I regret that Macron seeks to make personal political gains in an internal matter for Brazil and other Amazonian countries. The sensationalist tone he used does nothing to solve the problem,” France 24 reports. The back-and-forth comes after a Brazilian space agency found that there have been 72,843 fires in the Amazon so far this year—an 83-percent increase from the same period in 2018. Earlier Thursday, Bolsonaro said Brazil does not have the resources to fight the fires.
Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest - the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen - is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days! #ActForTheAmazonpic.twitter.com/dogOJj9big
