Tim Cook says Apple will be donating to help preserve the Amazon in the wake of devastating forest fires

Getty

Apple CEO Tim Cook.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Twitter that his company will be donating to help preserve the Amazon after the region experienced a record number of fires.
• Scientists have already recorded more than 74,000 fires in Brazil this year, almost doubling the number of fires recorded in 2018.
• Climate change is an important issue to Cook and Apple, and the CEO has been vocal about it in the past.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company will be donating to help preserve the Amazon after fires have ravaged the region.

"It's devastating to see the fires and destruction ravaging the Amazon rainforest, one of the world's most important ecosystems," Cook tweeted on Monday. "Apple will be donating to help preserve its biodiversity and restore the Amazon's indispensable forest across Latin America."

Cook did not reveal any further details about the donation Apple plans to make.

Scientists have already recorded more than 74,000 fires in Brazil so far this year, nearly doubling the 40,000 fires recorded in 2018. That makes it the highest number of fires recorded since researchers started keeping track in 2013.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro deployed 44,000 troops on Saturday to combat the blazes after he was criticized for the way he initially handled the situation. He previously downplayed concerns about the fires as "sensationalist."

The Amazon accounts for more than half of the planet's remaining rainforest, and it's often referred to as the "lungs of the planet." But deforestation has become an increasingly prominent problem over the last 40 years, according to the BBC. 

Climate change is an important issue to Cook and Apple, and the CEO has been vocal about its impact in the past. Most recently, he broached the topic in his commencement speech at Tulane University in May."I don't think we can talk about who we are as people and what we owe to one another without talking about climate change," he said during the ceremony.

He also personally called President Trump to convince him not to withdraw from the Paris Climate agreement back in 2017.