The Brazilian government has deployed thousands of armed forces to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation. The move came after the Bolsonaro administration was plagued with heavy criticism from his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and corruption scandals.

Government officials launched a military operation on Monday as an early response to the surging deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Their operation will start ahead of the high season for forest fires.

The armed forces were accompanied by environmental officials, law enforcement officers, and other government agencies. They began operations in a national forest located in the state of Rondonia.

According to Vice President Hamilton Mourao, the government invoked the same measures they used during the devastating fight against multiple forest fires in the rainforest last year.

The government would establish five permanent camps in the Amazon to serve as the homes for the groups involved in the operation-including military personnel, environmental agencies, and other security forces.

Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo said each of the bases would have chemical warfare experts to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through their operations.

The bases will be established in three Amazon cities and would involve 3,800 soldiers and would initially cost 60 million reais ($10 million).

The troops will be deployed for 30 days, with the operation ending on June 10. Their mission could be extended as the dry season approaches-the time when forest fires are spread rapidly. The military will be assisting in preventing the fires from devastating through the rainforest.

Mourao said the armed forces will help limit the crimes inside the Brazilian Amazon.

The military troops will continue to be deployed until Ibama, the country's environmental agency, is able to increase their staff. The economic downturn has heavily affected the agency's abilities to recruit agents, leading to thinning ranks.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit an 11-year high in 2019, spurring outcry from international agencies. He authorized the deployment when the Amazon fires grabbed global attention.

The previous year, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research reported over 80,000 forest fires-a near 80 percent jump compared to the same time period in 2018. More than half of those incidents took place in the Amazon rainforest.

In August 2019, the large amount of smoke from the fires turned day into night in Sao Paulo. Residents reportedly found it difficult to breathe.

The number of blazes decreased after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro declared a two-month ban on using fires to clear land. Indigenous tribe members who grow their own food crops and those who were given clearance by the environmental authorities used controlled burning to prevent the fire from spreading. Low-intensity flames just a few centimeters tall could burn half the trees in the tropical rainforest.

Scientists warn the Amazon could reach a very critical tipping point which could see the wet ecosystem turn into something resembling that of a savanna. A dramatic change could greatly affect how much carbon it absorbs.

If the rainforest dies, numerous species of plants, trees and animals would cease to exist. Should they all perish, they would release uncontrollable tons of carbon they've stored for many decades, making it impossible for anyone to escape a climate catastrophe. Want to read more? Check these out: