Brazil’s burning ban takes effect as Amazon fires rage

PORTO VELHO AFP Aug29, 2019 - A 60-day ban on burning in Brazil takes effect Thursday after a global outcry over fires raging in the Amazon and data showing hundreds of new blazes in the rainforest.   

The decree issued by President Jair Bolsonaro comes after escalating international pressure over the worst fires in the Amazon in years that have ignited a potentially damaging diplomatic spat between Brazil and Europe.   

More than 1,600 new fires were ignited between Tuesday and Wednesday, taking this year’s total to almost 85,000 -- the highest number since 2010, official data shows. More than half of them are in the vast Amazon basin.   

The new figures comes as UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday mooted a meeting of key countries to drum up support to tackle the fires that have also devastated swaths of Bolivia.