You read the stories in our #15Girls series and posed some really good questions. (Wish we'd thought of them first.) Here are answers from our correspondents.
Ivo Cassol is a prominent Brazilian politician who made his money in cattle ranching and logging in the Amazon. He says the world should pay Brazil a lot more if it wants to preserve the rain forest.
Recent scientific discoveries show the Amazon might control the climate for much of South America. The theory could point to potentially disastrous ramifications if deforestation continues.
The flooding overwhelmed houses, leaving a coating of mud — and in one case, setting a car atop a structure's walls. Rescue crews are still looking for survivors. At least one person has died.
Brazil says it has greatly reduced the rate of deforestation. That may be true, critics say, but they argue such figures are misleading because so much of the Amazon has already been degraded.
This is the time of year subsistence farmers clear land by setting fires in the Amazon. They say it's the only way they can make a living, but it's delivering another blow to the rain forest.
For generations, the rubber tappers of the Amazon have gone about their business in a way that preserves the rain forest. Today, they are increasingly in conflict with criminal logging gangs.