As forests are cut and cleared, they become drier and less resilient, increasing the chance of fires getting out of control. Drought attributed to the El Ni o climate phenomenon compounds the problem. It's a political and land-use problem. Planned fires are being set in places and ways that are inappropriate. The destruction of tropical forests is expected to have serious consequences ranging from the extinction of plants and animals to an increased concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
Tropical rain forests house the greatest concentration of plant and animal species on earth.
An estimated 50 percent of the world's species live in the Amazon alone. Scientists lament that large numbers of species are being eliminated before they can even be identified and given a name. In India, such products account for three-quarters of export earnings and half of the employment in the forestry sector, according to the Worldwatch Institute in Washington. The burning of forests releases huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, which may contribute to global warming. In the Brazilian Amazon, WWF estimates that burning increased by almost 30 percent last year.