The rainforest is burning

The Amazon is on fire, and there's more at stake than people might realize. [View in browser]( [Image]( AUGUST 22, 2019 [Image] 📸: Paul Rosolie [From NBC News's Erik Ortiz:]( Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month are bringing renewed scrutiny to Brazil's deforestation policy and have environmental researchers and conservationists worried that the blazes will only aggravate the climate change crisis. "The effects of forest destruction in the Amazon don't stay in the Amazon. They affect us all," said Robin Chazdon, professor emerita at the University of Connecticut who has studied tropical forest ecology. There's more at stake than people might realize, Chazdon said. "There are large negative consequences for climate change globally, as the fires contribute to carbon emissions," she added. If the rainforests are "not allowed to regenerate or be reforested, they will not be able to recover their high potential for carbon storage." The vast swaths of rainforest play an important role in the world's ecosystem because they absorb heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, mitigating the effects of climate change, scientists say. [Image] Roel Brienen, a professor at the University of Leeds in England who has studied the Amazon basin for more than 15 years, said the current level of deforestation is worrying for what it means to the loss of biodiversity and the release of more carbon into the atmosphere. "If we kill enough forest, we may be tipping the Amazon into a new, much drier state, and it may turn into a savanna," Brienen said in an email. ["This would be a great loss to our planet and almost means game over for our battle against climate change."]( In Case You Missed It: Videos from MSNBC Today [Image]( [NY AG James undaunted by Trump frenzy to keep finances hidden]( New York State Attorney General Letitia James talks with Rachel Maddow about the raft of legal cases she has filed against Donald Trump and the Trump administration, and emphasizes her determination to enforce the rule of law without exception, including for the president of the United States. (Rachel Maddow) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Image]( [Bucking world leaders, Trump gets ready to plead Russia's case at the G7]( After a chaotic week of attacks and wild claims, Trump gets ready to head to the G7 summit and plead Putin's case to get a spot back at the table and make it the G8 again. (11th Hour) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Image]( [Bernie Sanders unveils massive climate plan]( On a day when the world is focused on yet another climate crisis, fires in the Amazon, Senator Bernie Sanders, 2020 presidential candidate, joins Chris Hayes to discuss his groundbreaking climate plan. 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Brazil's Trump-like president, Jair Bolsonaro, is to blame. It’s not often you can pinpoint one person as the culprit for something on this scale, but the midday darkness is the direct result of the election of Jair Bolsonaro to the country’s presidency last year. Bolsonaro, who has told people, supposedly ironically, to call him “Captain Chainsaw,” campaigned on the theory that his country’s economic development had been limited by the world’s affection for the Amazon, and he made clear that those who wanted to cut it down had little to fear from his administration. By [Bill McKibben](, founder, global climate campaign 350.org. [OPINION.]( Sean Spicer on ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars' 2019 is a slap in the face to every American he lied to. During his first White House press briefing, on the first full day of Trump’s presidency, Spicer infamously declared that, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.” When confronted with evidence that this claim wasn’t true, Spicer doubled down on the lie, responding, “it was the most–watched inaugural.” (Spicer would later go on to concede that he “screwed up” and characterized it as a “moment he regretted.” But not until he'd left the White House, of course.) By [Kurt Bardella](, NBC News THINK contributor. What to watch Friday Many of the 2020 Democratic candidates will speak at the 2019 Democratic National Committee summer meeting Friday. We’ll bring you updates from the campaign trail. Chris Hayes will anchor a special edition of All In with a live studio audience at Rockefeller Center in New York City. 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