“Amazon Fires Causing Climate Change” by CiAnna R.
The Amazon Rainforest, which serves as the lungs of the world taking in the carbon dioxide, storing it in its soil, and producing over 20% of the world’s oxygen, is burning. Huge regions have ignited in flames, and as these widespread fires escalate an ominous, dark cloud of smoke has concealed the large city of Sao Paulo.
You may be wondering why we should be so concerned about the Amazon’s burning? Take a moment and think about the changes in weather and temperature that we have seen recently. Have you wondered what may be contributing to the unusual patterns? One of these contributions could be these Amazon forest fires and their effects on the atmospheric gases. These changes affect weather and temperature which is reason for concern. If this continues for an extended period of time and it’s known as climate change. Climate change affects everyone on the planet by changing growing seasons, air quality, and quality of life
How can we reverse the effects of the burning forest? We can do this by replanting of course. Reforestation is a process used to decrease global warming and replenish the world’s supply of oxygen. n this process trees are planted to replace those which have burned. Over time these trees absorb the carbon dioxide on the planet and in exchange provide more oxygen. Applying this to the Amazon, we begin to see its importance. The tropical forest is like a carbon sink, it reduces the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by roughly half. This means that losing the Amazon rainforest would inflate the level of carbon dioxide on the planet creating global warming which would dramatically increase the chances of climate change. Unfortunately, this has already begun.
The Brazilian Amazon has experienced 74,155 forest fires since January 2019, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. That is eighty five percent increase from last year’s forest fires, and was also higher than the 67,790 blazes in 2016 when there were severe drought conditions. "There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average," INPE researcher Alberto Setzer stated. However this may soon change. The Amazon rainforest’s dry season is known to create conditions that are more favorable to spreading fires. This leads to human error,starting the fires s intentionally or by accident. There is nothing uncommon about man made fires in the Amazon rainforest. The fires are set to clear out the land for farming or ranching, and at times, they can burn out of control. The recent fires have hit the Amazon rainforest the hardest. The enormous clouds of smoke from the blazes cover over half of the country. It has greatly impacted the most populous city of Sao Paulo. The fires have not been confined to Brazil though, they have even spilled over into Bolivia. These ongoing fires have raised concerns that the rainforest maybe suffering from land clearing or other activities meant to turn the rainforest into agriculture.
Furthermore, as stated by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, the recent fires have led to a clear spike in carbon monoxide emissions as well as planet-warming carbon monoxide emissions, that are posing a threat to human health and is irritating global warming. There were also claims of the deforestation rising before and when the fires starting, it had already risen 40%. Refuting these claims about the fires destroying the environment and deforestation, was the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsnoro.
President Bolsnoro has been known to favor increased agricultural and mining development, even if that means the rainforest suffers to deforestation. With the political pressure over the Amazon fires rising, he baselessly blamed the fires on the environmental groups. Bolsnoro has successfully done nothing to help prevent the rainforest from withering into nothingness, instead since his election into office he has cut back on efforts to stop illegal logging, mining, and ranching. In fact, the government department has documented the loss of “1,330 sq miles of forest cover in the first half of 2019, a 39% increase over the same period last year”. In the worst case scenario, without the help of the president to help limit deforestation and effective climate policies, a study by Vitor Gomes found that by 2050 the Amazon lowland rain forest could be fragmented. This would harm the biodiversity of the rainforest and make the Amazonian ecosystems less capable of absorbing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The study also warned that going past the “tipping point” would cause permanent damage with no solution for recovery.
As the crisis concerning the Amazon rainforest continues to escalate, we should not turn away from potential species extinction, climate catastrophe, and deforestation. Keeping the environment should be a main priority as the amazon rainforest provides the world with over 20% of its oxygen supply. Losing the rainforest would result in severe consequences that may or may not be able to be corrected. The Amazon rainforest may belong to Brazil and Bolsnoro, but the responsibility to save our planet is a that of everyone. This collective burden should be of the utmost importance , for the Amazons sake and for our planet’s. It is time for countries and people worldwide to come together to save this crucial natural resource before time runs out.
You may be wondering why we should be so concerned about the Amazon’s burning? Take a moment and think about the changes in weather and temperature that we have seen recently. Have you wondered what may be contributing to the unusual patterns? One of these contributions could be these Amazon forest fires and their effects on the atmospheric gases. These changes affect weather and temperature which is reason for concern. If this continues for an extended period of time and it’s known as climate change. Climate change affects everyone on the planet by changing growing seasons, air quality, and quality of life
How can we reverse the effects of the burning forest? We can do this by replanting of course. Reforestation is a process used to decrease global warming and replenish the world’s supply of oxygen. n this process trees are planted to replace those which have burned. Over time these trees absorb the carbon dioxide on the planet and in exchange provide more oxygen. Applying this to the Amazon, we begin to see its importance. The tropical forest is like a carbon sink, it reduces the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by roughly half. This means that losing the Amazon rainforest would inflate the level of carbon dioxide on the planet creating global warming which would dramatically increase the chances of climate change. Unfortunately, this has already begun.
The Brazilian Amazon has experienced 74,155 forest fires since January 2019, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. That is eighty five percent increase from last year’s forest fires, and was also higher than the 67,790 blazes in 2016 when there were severe drought conditions. "There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average," INPE researcher Alberto Setzer stated. However this may soon change. The Amazon rainforest’s dry season is known to create conditions that are more favorable to spreading fires. This leads to human error,starting the fires s intentionally or by accident. There is nothing uncommon about man made fires in the Amazon rainforest. The fires are set to clear out the land for farming or ranching, and at times, they can burn out of control. The recent fires have hit the Amazon rainforest the hardest. The enormous clouds of smoke from the blazes cover over half of the country. It has greatly impacted the most populous city of Sao Paulo. The fires have not been confined to Brazil though, they have even spilled over into Bolivia. These ongoing fires have raised concerns that the rainforest maybe suffering from land clearing or other activities meant to turn the rainforest into agriculture.
Furthermore, as stated by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, the recent fires have led to a clear spike in carbon monoxide emissions as well as planet-warming carbon monoxide emissions, that are posing a threat to human health and is irritating global warming. There were also claims of the deforestation rising before and when the fires starting, it had already risen 40%. Refuting these claims about the fires destroying the environment and deforestation, was the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsnoro.
President Bolsnoro has been known to favor increased agricultural and mining development, even if that means the rainforest suffers to deforestation. With the political pressure over the Amazon fires rising, he baselessly blamed the fires on the environmental groups. Bolsnoro has successfully done nothing to help prevent the rainforest from withering into nothingness, instead since his election into office he has cut back on efforts to stop illegal logging, mining, and ranching. In fact, the government department has documented the loss of “1,330 sq miles of forest cover in the first half of 2019, a 39% increase over the same period last year”. In the worst case scenario, without the help of the president to help limit deforestation and effective climate policies, a study by Vitor Gomes found that by 2050 the Amazon lowland rain forest could be fragmented. This would harm the biodiversity of the rainforest and make the Amazonian ecosystems less capable of absorbing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The study also warned that going past the “tipping point” would cause permanent damage with no solution for recovery.
As the crisis concerning the Amazon rainforest continues to escalate, we should not turn away from potential species extinction, climate catastrophe, and deforestation. Keeping the environment should be a main priority as the amazon rainforest provides the world with over 20% of its oxygen supply. Losing the rainforest would result in severe consequences that may or may not be able to be corrected. The Amazon rainforest may belong to Brazil and Bolsnoro, but the responsibility to save our planet is a that of everyone. This collective burden should be of the utmost importance , for the Amazons sake and for our planet’s. It is time for countries and people worldwide to come together to save this crucial natural resource before time runs out.
Work Cited
Miranda, David. “Fires Are Devouring the Amazon. And Jair Bolsonaro Is to Blame | David Miranda.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 Aug. 2019, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/26/fires-are-devouring-the-amazon-and-jair-bolsonaro-is-to-blame.
Freeman, Andrew. Amazon Rain Forest Is Ablaze, Turning Day into Night in Sao Paulo. The Washington Post, 2019.
National Geographic Society. “Ask an Amazon Expert: Why We Can't Afford to Lose the Rain Forest.” National Geographic Society, 8 May 2015, www.nationalgeographic.org/news/ask-amazon-expert-why-we-cant-afford-lose-rain-forest/.
Dolasia, Meera. “Record Number Of Wildfires In The Amazon Rainforest Could Accelerate Climate Change.” DOGOnews, 30 Aug. 2019, www.dogonews.com/2019/8/23/record-number-of-wildfires-in-the-amazon-rainforest-could-accelerate-climate-change.
I knew that deforestation of the Amazon was a problem, but I did not know it was happening so rapidly. The politics of this situation is disgusting, especially when the health of the plant is at stake. If we do not take immediate action to reforest the places we have destroyed out of human ambition and greed, we will not leave a place for future generations to survive in.
ReplyDeleteAction does need to be taken immediately, so why did news not talk about this more? I think you covered this story very well, but I wish you talked more about different solutions that could be done to help.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the news could have covered this a bit more. The only reason I found out about it was the memes. I think it would be devastating if we fully loose the the rain forest. We need to do more to protect our forest, or even just planting more trees to help grow it back. I think if it is simply a different person going out each day planting a tree we could help re plant our forest.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how bad that deforestation in the Amazon is. It also surprised me because the news has not covered it as much as I think it should be. I never thought the scale of the how much was being destroyed was as bad as it is. We should be doing more to preserve our rain forests and the species found within it. You probably could have talked more about solutions or what people could do without going to the rain forests personally.
ReplyDeleteI think you did great explaining the potential consequences of the fires. It certainly is a concerning issue that such a vast ecosystem is just being taken away without any substantial action being taken by local and worldwide governments. The damage that could be caused if a substantial amount of the Amazonian rain forest burns down is tremendous. It is a mystery to me why anyone, the South American governments or whoever, are yet to act with any success.
ReplyDeleteI have known about the amazon deforestation ,but I didn't know how bad it really was until I read your're blog. If the amazon dies, that would be a devastating blow to our planet. I've never really thought about what would happen, but when you stated that 20% of the world's oxygen is being produced there, it really hit me. I feel like there should be more coverage on this issue in the media.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how important places like the Amazon were in substaining life. I do not think there is enough media coverage on this topic and others similar to it. Even if it is something as small as planting trees to replace some of the ones lost I feel as though it should be done.
ReplyDeleteI believe that even know forest fires are and can be natural phenomena these fires can easily get out of hand as they have her in the Amazon and other places like California as well. I believe if these fires are not contained and burn to much we will have a point of no return, but if we can replant trees that burn and even the trees we cut down our world will stay stable.
ReplyDeleteThe amazon is home so many different species and they are in danger because of this. If these fires are not stopped all those spices will most likely no longer be living. We need to be doing things to help prevent these fires.
ReplyDelete