As the world watches apprehensively to see who might become Brazil’s new president, there are serious concerns for the future of the Amazon. The country’s Amazon has always been at the center of global consciousness as deforestation rates worsen. This year, there is heightened tension as the world considers what will become of the forest in the coming years following the election.

With the simple reality that the Amazon is shrinking, the intentions of the next President will tell all. Far-right Jair Bolsonaro, current president of Brazil and leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – universally known as Lula – are in the spotlight as the future of the forest rises to center stage. This urgency increased more than ever this year. According to the Financial Times, the actual number of fires in peak months August and September hit the highest level for more than a decade.

The Amazon is hugely important in regulating the Earth and absorbing large amounts of greenhouse gases. In a decade alone the nature of the life-saving forest has changed considerably, mostly for the worse. For many, these elections are indicative of what is to come.

Related: Deforestation In The Brazilian Amazon Breaks Previous Records

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