Amazon Forest Fire, Brazil: Deadly Impact on Climate Change

Amazon Forest Fire :

The Amazon rainforest is the green-heart of our planet. It has more than 16,000 species of trees, most are exclusive to here alone.

The Amazon is home to a tenth of the world’s total diverse plant and animal species. Amazon does more than what our eyes can see.

The Amazon rainforest is an essential Carbon Compressor that plays a very vital role in slowing down the pace of global warming.

It produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen. Despite all the conservation efforts, the Amazon forest is being erased at an unparalleled scale. In fact, deforestation has rapidly increased several folds since the last few months in the name of development in Brazil.

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Sad Fact: Forest the size of a football field is lost every single minute.

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Why are the forest fires increasing in the Amazon :

According to the new data from the National Institute for Space Research [INPE], Amazon forest fire have been on a record high this year.

This year’s satellite data revealed a shocking fact, it showed an 83% increase in forest destruction by wildfires compared to the same period in 2018.

Wildfires in the Amazon are sparsely common during the dry season in Brazil as the forest itself is mostly fireproof. The humidity, moisture, and wetness of the forest suppress the possibility of wildfire.

However, natural wildfires are inevitable in the dry season. But the recent blazing forest fires are mostly deliberate in an effort to illegally deforest and clear the land for cattle breeding in the name of development (or) its least accidental.

Head of the World Wide Fund for Nature [WWF], Ricard Mello said that the fires were a consequence of an increase in the deforestation seen in recent figures.

Environmental activists blame president Jair Bolsonaro, saying he has inspired loggers and farmers to clear the forest.

Scientists from Brazil’s National Space Research Institute [INPE] said that the Amazon has suffered a massive loss at an accelerated pace since Mr. Jair Bolsonaro took office as the president in January.

Mr. Jair Bolsonaro denied the latest data saying that it was the “Season of the Quemado” when the farmers use fire to clear land.

But INPE strongly stood to its reports claiming that its data was 95% accurate. And it was backed up by several scientific institutions including the Brazilian Academy of Science.

However, INPE noted that the pattern and the total number of fires weren’t in line like usually reported during the dry season.

Amazon deforestation was reduced over the past decade by the previous Brazilian Government with a strong system of penalties and action by feds on Environmental Crimes.

But according to the INPE environment reports, it seems that the present government has criticized the penalties, convictions for environmental crimes and encouraged the exploitation of the rainforest.

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Also read: Coronavirus: WHO Declared Global Health Emergency…

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Consequences of the destruction of Amazon rainforest :

According to the National Institute for Space Research’s harvested data, approximately 870 sq.miles of the Amazonian forest were destroyed by man-made fires in July which is a 278% increase in the destruction of forest during the same period in 2018.

The smoke from the massive fire caused a ‘Blackout’ in the entire city of Sao Paulo on Monday afternoon.

The ‘blackout’ which lasted for an hour was a result of the strong winds that carried in smoke from the forest fires that were blazing in the states of Amazonas, Rondonia which were more than 2,700 km [1,700 miles] away from the city.

According to Euronews, the largest state of Brazil, Amazonas, had to declare a state of emergency due to the raging fire and toxic smoke.

The Amazon forest fire in Brazil will have a deadly impact on climate change. Millions of hectares of forest burned to ashes. According to experts, this will directly affect global warming by accelerating the pace of rising temperature as millions of tons of Co₂ is released into the atmosphere that traps the heat. This, in turn, increases the sea level by melting the ice caps.

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With all these devastating impacts on the environment comes the devastating effect on mankind.

According to the report from The New York Times, Brazil has rejected the Amazon aid fund of about $22 million from G7 Countries but later accepted $12 million aid fund from Britain.

“The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” 

– Mahatma Gandhi