The Brazillian Amazon is now a net emitter of carbon dioxide, new research has shown. The so-called ‘lung of the Earth‘ is spread across several South American countries, with 60% of the rainforest in Brazil. In that neck of the woods, nearly 20% more carbon dioxide has entered the atmosphere over the past decade than it absorbed. The Amazon basin, with half of the world’s tropical rainforests, has been a great, big carbon sponge/oxygen machine for the world. Deforestation has been an issue for decades, but the rate has surged under Brazil’s pro-development President Jair Bolsonaro since 2019. Not looking to mend his ways, he yesterday announced reduced fines for land-clearing ranchers saying it would bring “peace and tranquillity” to the countryside.