The hashtag #prayforAmazon is currently one of the trending tags on twitter. Images of rain forest on fire went viral on all kinds of media, and tension spread across the globe. The reason why everyone seems to worry about these fires is this particular rain forest’s importance. It is believed that 20% of the oxygen on earth is produced by Amazon Rain forest. Fires in the Amazon forest are not rare but this much of fires are unseasonal and much more than people generally anticipate there.

The thing that is worrying everyone is that these fires are human-set fires. Whatever possible reasons for these fires are, this matter is related to the whole planet, not a particular region or country. People across the globe are afraid that an alarming increase in the rate of fires is a threat to the global environment.

This is what the French president said on twitter, on 22 August:

How Did The Fires Erupt?

Experts believe the cause of these fires is not lightening. In fact, these are human-set fires and that is very concerning. Just in case you are wondering if fires are common in this region, the answer is yes.

The INPE researcher Alberto Setzer says,” the dry season creates favorable conditions for the spread of fires, but human starts these fires.”

It is another matter whether they set these fires on purpose or by mistake but it is set by humans. If we dig a little deeper, there are other possible reasons for these fires. Some people believe that these fires are intentionally set by illegal land-grabbers to raise the value of land there. Most of the fires are agriculture and set by farmers clearing forest for cropland.

Pictures captured by NASA and other space agencies of the forest are horrible. These pictures portray an alarming situation for the entire globe’s climatic environment.

President Bolsonaro has accused NGOs of setting these fires in retaliation to funding cuts.

Is Whole Amazon Forest Ablaze?

On social media, some people are exaggerating that the whole forest is on fire. However, satellite monitoring experts say that such reports are not true. Most of the fire is in deforested areas. However, they also confirmed there are also fires in some protected reserves.

Being habitant of this planet, you can’t sit back and see a major source of oxygen burning. The forest is not just a home to millions of species of animals and insects but holds significant importance for humans too. With millions of trees burning at once, these fires pose a potential threat to our climate. Increase in natural disasters has made people take climatic changes seriously and think of ways to improve it.

Do these Fire Affect Climate?

Greenpeace in its release on August 22, said that forest fires and climate change operate in the brutal cycle. Due to the increase in fires, the temperature of the globe is continuously increasing. Extreme weather events like major drought are happening more often.

Last week in a release, NASA showed carbon monoxide that is associated with the Amazon fires. The map shows a carbon monoxide cloud bloom in the northwest of Amazon region. The smoke of Amazon fire reached San Paolo and in other faraway regions, that spread panic among people.

When new trees grow fast, they can also start absorbing a significant amount of carbon from the atmosphere quickly. But recent research says that global warming has stopped forest regrowth after forest fires – including forest of the Sierra Nevada. If this continues to happen, we’ll soon be vulnerable to lack of clean air to breath.

 

How Many Fires Are There?

INPE’s figure represents an alarming increase to 70% in fires from 2018, in Amazon. According to a manager of GFW ( Global Forest Watch), the number of fires this year in Amazon is far higher than in previous years. These eye-opening numbers are the reason why the entire globe is demanding measures to stop these.

Fires are common in the Amazon during July and August and end in November. But this year, there have been more than 70,000 fires across the country. And half of them occurred in the Amazon forest.

In a 48-hour period between Tuesday to Thursday, there were more than 2,500 active fires in Amazon. The smoke from the fires is even visible from space. If these fires continue to burn the forest, they are likely to cover other protective reservoirs too. In a few viral videos on social media, people can be seen in front of Amazon blaming a group of farmers for burning the forest.

Are Some Fires Put Off?

No. The fires are still active and causing irreversible damage to the forest and climate. The president of Brazil, Bolsonaro is mobilizing the army to combat the flames and recently accepted aid from the UK to battle Amazon fires. Scattered thunderstorms were present over the region on Thursday but they weren’t enough to battle the wide-spread fires.

There is a rain forecast in the Amazon region for the next two weeks but it is expected to fall in the areas that need it the least!

How Much Forest Is Affected?

Due to deforestation, a vast area of Amazon is tree-less now. In July, according to a satellite data from Brazil’s space agency, trees being cleared at the rate of five football pitches, every minute! This kind of a spike in deforestation is not seen in more than a decade in the Amazon region.

An area of 2,254 sq km is lost in a month, that means a rise of 278% on the same month last year.

How Is The World Responding To Amazon Fires?

The whole world is concerned, and why they shouldn’t be? Amazon forest is the Earth’s lungs and any damage to it means damage to Earth.

In the G7 summit, the leaders from different parts of the world insisted to prevent deforestation in the Amazon area. The established and developed countries are ready to assist the Brazil government in extinguishing fires. The whole world is worried and doing whatever they could do to stop these fires in the future. The reason is their own well-being and safety. Fires are not only dangerous for people residing in nearby areas, but also for the global climate. The astonishing rate at which we are losing the Amazon forest is making our future smoky.

What Can We Do?

No matter, who you are and in which part of the world you live, you can contribute in this noble cause. The Earth is incomplete without trees and greenery. Without them, we will be vulnerable to all sort of natural disasters. These forest and trees are a sign of peace and we must take care of them. They are not expensive like other necessary things for survival, but survival without them is not possible.

You may not directly contribute to the safety of Amazon forest but at least you can take care of the trees near you. If you don’t have a significant amount of trees around you, you can plant a few. Amazon is not the only forest in the that is burning but there are actually quite a few. If you have one near you, you can do whatever you can to protect it. Moreover, for Amazon, you can participate in different social media campaigns to spread awareness and protect the remaining forest from burning or deforesting.