As the number of fires ravaging the Amazon has been increasing, the world is noticing the same. In this year, more than 76,000 wildfires have burned in Brazil so far with a majority in the Amazon that has drawn international outrage because of the rainforest’s importance to the global environment and prompted the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to send the military in order to assist in firefighting.
The Amazon Fires Sparking a Crisis for Brazil
Brazil contains about 60% of the Amazon which is the world’s largest rainforest. Several types of plant, animal and insect species with million in numbers live in the Amazon and the forest acts as a huge carbon sink that helps to cool global temperatures. Being this much important, as per the scientists, preserving the Amazon is vital in fighting global warming.
The wildfire data, which INPE released on 20 August, have prompted an international outcry. On 22 August, French President Emmanuel Macron, who is currently hosting a G7 summit in Biarritz which is being held from 24-26 August, called for discussion of the fires at the summit. He said, “It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 summit, let’s discuss this emergency.”
According to Brazil space research agency INPE, the forest fires in all of Brazil have hit the highest level since at least 2013 and are up 84% this year to August 23 as compared to the same period a year ago. There have been 78,383 fires recorded so far this year, with roughly half of them in August alone.
Eight out of nine Amazon states have seen an increase in the fire, with the largest state of Amazonas seeing a 146% rise.
According to José Antonio Marengo, a climatologist at the National Centre for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters in São Paulo, “An increase in people illegally clearing land for agricultural activities and a decrease in the enforcement of environmental laws are the reason for the surge in fires in the Amazon. Further dry season conditions, which occur roughly between June and November, exacerbate the fires.”
According to environmentalists, Deforestation has risen 67% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2019 and more than tripled in July alone in the name of development.
When asked about the increase in fires during a press conference earlier on 21 August, Bolsonaro accused environmental groups of starting some of the blazes in order to embarrass his administration. However, he did not present any evidence and later backed off from that claim.
In addition to the environmental impact of the fires, researchers are also worried about the health and climate impacts of the blazes.
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