Reasons for Amazon fires are complex - and so are solutions

By now, anyone with access to a television or computer has heard of the catastrophe facing the Amazon rainforest in the form of blazing fires consuming forested land and the creatures that inhabit it. As of press time, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) had reported at least 74,000 fires in the Amazon this year — an increase of 84 percent since this time last year.

Statistically, the Amazon rarely burns on its own — its foliage is typically too wet to ignite, so fires are often found to be caused by humans. Some of those may be illegal loggers hiding criminal activity or far...