Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has been experiencing 84% more wildfires this year compared to last year, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). These intense fires started just weeks after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired the head of the agency amid rows over its deforestation data.
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital resource when it comes to slowing global warming, as it acts a huge carbon store. The forest itself is also home to approximately three million different species of plants and animals, as well as one million indigenous people.
Brazilian President Bolsonaro has been recognized as being more in favour of development than conservation, and scientists and conservationists in both Brazil and around the world have laid a large portion of the blame on the president. They say that he has instigated these fires by encouraging farmers and loggers to clearcut the land since he took office in January of this year. Wildfires are often caused by the hot and dry conditions in South America, but they are also often deliberately started in efforts to illegally clearcut areas of the forest.
INPE has reported that there have been more than 74,000 fires in the Amazon between January and August of 2019, more than have ever been recorded since records began in 2013. They have also observed more than 9,400 fires in the rainforest since Thursday August the 15th. In comparison, between January and August of 2018, there were just over 40,000 fires in the rainforest.
Satellite images show Brazil's most northern state, Roraima, covered in dark smoke, while neighbouring Amazonas have declared an emergency over the fires. President Bolsonaro has dismissed the latest data, claiming it was the "season of the queimada", when farmers use fire to clear land. "I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame," he was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
The Brazilian president has also laid some of the blame on environmental activists and NGO workers. During a Facebook Live video on Wednesday morning, he said "So, there could be...I'm not affirming it, criminal action by these 'NGOers' to call attention against my person, against the government of Brazil. This is the war that we are facing.” He also went on to say that he believes that the NGO workers are setting these fires in response to a cutting of funding under his government.
Through deforestation the Amazon is losing approximately an area the size of a soccer field every minute through deforestation. Brazilians themselves are distraught. One Brazilian woman, Mirelly Lisboa was quoted by On The Hour as saying “What is happening now is the result of years of ‘nobody cares’ and lots of money in between. I feel like my country was sold and everyday they are still selling the rich parts to those who will pay more. Amazonia is the biggest slice, but Pantanal, another green place, was sold and today are big rich farms. The National Park of Jericoacoara, which is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, was sold for resorts. Ariana and Brumadinho were the biggest environmental disaster. Firstly Mariana, the company responsible for it still working, and the second disaster happened recently. Definitely if the Brazilian government doesn't work urgently, the whole world will pay for it!”.
The National Institute for Space Research has noted that the current number of fires is not inline with the average number of fires during Brazil’s dry season. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that the dry season in Brazil is ideal for the spreading of wildfires, but the fires themselves are being started by humans, either deliberately or by accident.
Written by: Devon Clare Banfield
Kommentare