Record fires ravage Brazil’s Amazon and Pantanal regions

BRASILIA: A record high number of fires scorched Brazil’s Amazon and Pantanal wetlands last month, official data showed on Sunday, as deforestation and climate change wreaked havoc on some of the planet’s most valuable ecosystems. The Amazon rainforest has been described as the Earth’s “lungs” due to its role in producing almost 10 percent of the world’s oxygen. The Pantanal further south is...