Brazil's President Bolsonaro is known as the "Trump of the Tropics". He makes outrageous and offensive statements about women, sexual minorities and immigrants.

Opinion polls predict that former president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva will beat Bolsonaro in the elections on Sunday. After he left office, Lula was imprisoned for corruptionWhen someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery. .

Last year, a court freed Lula, allowing him to stand again for president. Experts say Brazil's election may decide the fate of the Amazon and the future of climate change.

The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest. It has 390 billion trees. Two-thirds are in Brazil. Over Bolsanaro's four years, an area the size of Belgium has been cut down to farm cattle.

Lula promises "there will be no Amazon deforestation" if he wins. Bolsonaro plans new laws to give ranchers more power.

Rainforests replace carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with water and oxygen. This helps slow global warming. Bolsanaro's critics say he is burning the "lungs of the world".

Deforestation is turning the Amazon "into an accelerator of climate change", says researcher Luciana Gatti, "releasing more carbon into the atmosphere".

However, some say the Amazon is important, but it is not the Earth's lungs. "Oxygen is a red herringA misleading piece of information that draws you away from the right answer.", says climate scientist Gordon Bonan. Activists exaggerate the amount produced, and most is absorbed back into the forest.¹

Deforestation shrank 65% when Lula was president. But political experts warn a change of president will not be enough. New laws must punish land grabbers and give indigenousEthnic groups who are the original or earliest-known inhabitants of an area or country: for example, Native Americans in the USA. people support to live in the forest without cutting down trees.

And Lula has not won yet. His right-wing rival Bolsonaro is using scare tactics, comparing Lula to the authoritarian leaders of Venezuela and NicaraguaA country in Central America with a population of 6.8 million. . Latin American expert Steven Levitsky says there is "zero evidence" that Lula threatens democracy.

But experts worry Bolsonaro may not accept defeat. He has said "something abnormal" will have happened if he receives less than 60% of the vote. "Only God will oustDrive someone out me", he told supporters.

Turbulent days may lie ahead for the world's seventh largest economy. What happens next in Brazil will be felt across the world.

Yes: Bolsonaro does not believe in the science behind climate change. He wants to develop the Amazon. If his policies continue, the rainforest will disappear.

No: The rainforest is important, but life in the oceans plays a much greater role in preventing climate change.

Or... One vote may not change the Amazon's fate, but it could deal a blow to democracy. Bolsonaro is accused of stoking political violence.