The cost of the Amazon wildfires
Leaders of the Group of Seven nations this weekend pledged to help Brazil battle fires burning across the Amazon region and repair the damage.
While exact damage costs of the Amazon rainforest fires are still in flux, the ecological and economic devastation is imminent. President Trump said via Twitter that the U.S. is ready to assist.
"I told him if the United States can help with the Amazon Rainforest fires, we stand by ready to assist!" Trump said on Twitter Friday evening.
According to reports, around 40,000 blazes are currently burning and already a quarter of the rainforest – the size of Texas -- is gone.
"This is not just a forest that is burning," Rosana Villar of Greenpeace told CNN earlier this week. "This is almost a cemetery. Because all you can see is death."
Since the news of the wildfires broke, Earth Alliance, an environmental group supported by Leonardo DiCaprio, has dedicated $5 million to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest.
U.S. IMPACT
Experts estimate 25 percent of the pharmaceutical drugs sold in the U.S. are derived from 40 Amazon plants, while 40 percent of all drugs sold are extracted from flora in the forests (particularly drugs like aspirin, heart medication and cancer treatment taxol).
The U.S.-Brazilian trade relationship is strong, as Brazil was the 17th largest supplier of goods in 2018 -- totaling $37.5 billion, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Meanwhile, Brazil imported 1.2 percent of U.S. imports in 2018. Agriculturally, Brazil exports coffee for around $934 million, as well as produce juices, red meats, tobacco and essential oils.
Many of these oils are key ingredients in cosmetics, rubber and cleaning products.
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