Biden Becomes the First Sitting U.S. President to Visit the Amazon

On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden made history by becoming the first sitting president to visit the Amazon rainforest. Accompanied by Carlos Nobre, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and expert on the impact of climate change on the Amazon, and his climate advisor John Podesta, Biden flew over the vast tropical rainforest by helicopter to observe drying waterways, damage from wildfires, and changes in wildlife habitats up close. The expansive Amazon rainforest in South America, nearly the size of Australia and about two-thirds located in Brazil, absorbs vast amounts of the world's carbon dioxide, but the level of destruction from development in these forests has become alarming. The Amazon rainforest is referred to as the 'lungs of the Earth.' Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change, and increased emissions of this gas into the atmosphere can exacerbate climate changes and make combating them more difficult. Last year, the Biden administration announced it would contribute $500 million to the 'Amazon Fund,' the largest contribution to this Norwegian initiative aimed at fostering international cooperation to protect the Amazon rainforest. Washington has so far disbursed $50 million of this amount, and the White House announced on Sunday that another $50 million would be released. The U.S. government also announced a series of new measures to strengthen efforts to protect the Amazon. Biden is in Brazil to attend the G20 summit. Leaders of the eight neighboring countries of the Amazon rainforest did not reach an agreement to end deforestation. Environmental activists in Brazil are concerned about the risk of destruction of the Amazon forests. The United Nations has called for actions from the G20 to tackle global warming. The 'COP 29' climate change conference has begun in Baku. Scientists state that the effects of drought in the Amazon will last for up to three years.