As Amazon Burns, Tree-Planting Search Engine Ecosia Erupts In Popularity

The Amazon rainforest fire crisis has caused eco-friendly search engine Ecosia to see a 1,150% surge in users in recent days. The Germany-based search engine uses Bing technology, and makes its money off of ads, with 80% of the profits going towards planting trees around the world.

Ecosia, which is headquartered in Berlin, has promised to plant an additional 2 million trees in Brazil. The organization's ultimate goal is to plant a billion trees by 2020.

Ecosia was founded in 2009, with the company having planted 60 million trees in 2019. The organization has a solar energy plant to power its operations and claims to power its searches with 100% renewable energy.

International attention has turned to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, which has seen devastating wildfires this week. Criticism has been directed at Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has cut $23 million towards Brazil's environmental enforcement agency since he began his term at the beginning of the year.

The country has seen an 80% increase in deforestation over the last year.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been particularly critical of Bolsonaro, saying that he had "lied" to him over his commitments to protect the environment. The G7, which had held a summit in France, has pledged $22 million in funds to Brazil to fight the fires, but Bolsonaro has rejected the funds, and had asked for an apology from Macron. Bolsonaro also insulted Macron's wife on Facebook, adding a personal level to the feud.