“The Lungs of the World,” the Amazon Rainforest, home to some of the world’s most precious natural resources has now been put in danger due to the fires that have erupted. These fires were caused by farmers who burned down trees to create more space for pastures and were unable to control the fires.The fires are presented as a global issue by many news sources such as The Washington Post, China Daily, The Times and many more major newspapers. Although, this is a serious issue, how much do the students at Roswell High School know about the topic and what should they learn about the topic?

When students were asked about the topic, the responses were very mixed about the topic and how much each student knew. 

“I know for one that if anyone is claiming that the Amazon produces twenty percent of the world’s oxygen and that the burning will deplete that is false,” said junior Samantha Northenor, “Yes, the burning will release emissions into the air that will contribute to the greenhouse effect but it will not deplete the planet’s oxygen supply.” 

Unlike Northenor, many students did not know much about the topic and did not know how it affected us in Roswell. ”I know that the Amazon is burning and affecting the people that live near it. I don’t know how it affects us in the suburbs of Georgia,” said sophomore Malia Neely.

Throughout interviewing, more people were like Neely and knew the basics of what was going on but not truly what the fires were causing.

Carlos Nobre, who is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, chair of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) Scientific Committee,Senior Scientist at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) of Brazil and much more, had a lot more on the topic and how everyone should be more concerned about the Amazon, not just Brazil. 

“The winds mix up the global atmosphere. Therefore, anything that happens in Brazil or in Roswell will be communicate globally,” said  Nobre, “they [tropical forests] also are a source of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. Clear-cutting trees in the Amazon and burning them releases a lot of carbon dioxide and makes our our global effort to reduce the risk that global warming poses to humanity even more distant.” When making this comment, he is explaining that the Amazon fires may not be a current issue but the overall goal of stopping global warming or even controlling it, is becoming harder do to the toxicants that are released from the fires.