Fires pollute Amazon rainforest

Burning of the Amazon rainforest has made Brazil one of the world's top 10 polluters, raising pressure on the Government to curb destruction of the jungles.

The Government should publish within months a long-delayed inventory of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which is expected to challenge the view that the Amazon serves as the "lungs of the world" by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Instead, it will show that a majority of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, come from smoke linked to deforestation, and not fossil fuels.