Record-breaking fires have been blazing through the Amazon Rainforest in the past few months and it poses a serious threat to the air quality of the world.
What is causing the fires?
More than 80,000 fires have erupted in Brazil this year with a particularly unusual amount of fire activity in August. According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), that’s nearly an 80% jump in the number of wildfires in previous years. More than half of the fires in Brazil this year have taken place in the Amazon Fires.
Experts say that deforestation is the main cause of the surge in wildfires. A process called slash-and-burn is particularly to blame. Slash-and-burn is a practice utilized to create more space for agricultural reasons by burning down part of the forest, thereby making it dry and more likely to be prone to wildfires. “There is no doubt that this rise in fire activity is associated with a sharp rise in deforestation,” Paulo Artaxo, an atmospheric physicist at the University of São Paulo, told Science Magazine. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fires-could-turn-amazon-rainforest-into-a-desert-as-human-activity-and-climate-change-threaten-lungs-9259741.html
Why are these fires such a big deal?
Although you may not live in Brazil, or anywhere near the Amazon fires, you should still be deeply concerned with this issue. The Amazon plays a huge role in removing greenhouse gasses from the Earth’s atmosphere. Without the help of the trees in the Amazon, climate change will inevitably speed up. If the forest continues to be burned, it will no longer able to sustain itself, and as a result, our environment will reap the consequences. Nearly 20% of the air we breathe comes from the Amazon Rainforest.
On Thursday August 29, President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro announced he will be banning land-clearing fires in the country for 60 days. The ban comes after the recent outrage of activists and scientists over the destruction of the rainforest. Although it’s a big step towards fixing the issue, there are still other concerns about the fires. Just a week ago, Bolsonaro denied $20 million aid offered to the country by the G7 Summit. Activists are concerned that Bolsonaro is only interested in advancing the ever-growing cattle farming industry of Brazil.
What is being done to fight the fires right now?
Bolsonaro deployed over 44,000 troops to help fight the fires on August 24th, after weeks of international outrage. Paulo Barroso, the chairman of the national forest fire management committee of the National League of Military Firefighters Corps in Brazil, says more than 10.400 firefighters are spread across the 5.5 million acres of the Amazon forest. Barroso has urged the presidential administration to help fight the fires.“We don’t have an adequate structure to prevent, to control, and to fight the forest fires,” Barroso says. Barroso and other experts alike agree that in the future, action needs to be taken to prevent fires before they happen.
How can these fires be prevented in the future?
While spreading awareness about the issue doesn’t hurt, it certainly isn’t enough to solve the problem. If you truly care about the fires in the Amazon, take action by reducing your beef intake. These fires are solely being caused by deforestation to advance cattle farming. Climate change is no joke and we need to start taking action towards protecting our environment. The Amazon is one of the world’s most important ecosystems and we need to protect it.