New data released by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) suggests that Brazil’s Amazon forest has recorded an all time high number of fires in 2019. The largest rainforest on Earth, the Amazon plays a critical role in slowing down the pace of global warming as it produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. It is difficult to pinpoint why the fires started because of the number of fires in the Amazon rainforest.
The Amazon is important in the fight against global warming because of its ability to absorb carbon from the air – this is why it is often called the “lungs of the Earth”. More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced there and it is also home to approximately three-million different types of plant and animal species, as well as one-million indigenous people.
It is reported that a blackout in the city of São Paulo, located more than 2 700km away from the rainforest, has been caused by the thick billowing smoke from the fires. Some Brazilian meteorlogists, however, believe the smoke causing low visibility in São Paulo has been caused by fires in Paraguay, not from the Amazon.
According to INPE, they detected more than 74 000 fires between January and August – the highest number since recorded since 2013. They also observed more than 9 500 forest fires break out since August 15, with many concentrated in the region of the Amazon.
In 2018, there were more than 40 000 fires reported during the same period, while there was a high of 68 000 fires reported during 2016.
Yesterday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro claimed that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were behind the recent Amazon fires, as the national government had recently cut their funding.
When asked for evidence to these claims, Bolsonaro said he did not have any. “Crime exists,” he said during a Facebook Live. “These people are missing the money.”
A man who lives in the Amazon basin has started a petition and is gathering signatures to spur the Brazilian government into action, as there no reports of significant intervention to douse the fires.
“We are asking the authorities to set up an inquiry to investigate what is leading to the increase in fires in this region and hold the culprits to account,” the petition reads. “More than half of the fires are in the Amazon, which is not only killing biodiversity and ecosystems, but also damaging the health of millions, especially the elderly and children who cannot breathe due to smoke.”
Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.
