Forest Fires

Forest fires were occuring in the Amazon for weeks before the world started to notice. These fires were at their peak in August with approximately 30,000 fires at any one time.

There were many causes for this. Forest fires often occur in the amazon during dry seasons, mainly July and October. This is because the wood becomes so dry and hot that it can catch alight. Other natural causes of these fires are events like lightening strikes on a group of trees. While all these events are commonplace, never before have these fires met these extremities.

This year however the vast majority of the fires are thought to have been started by farmers and loggers clearing land for crops, grazing and their own personal economic expansion.

The reason that this is so serious is because the Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and is an essential carbon sink that helps us to slow down the rate of global warming and climate change. This matters because the Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world and a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.

In late August the president of Brazil deployed the army to the amazon and ordered a 60 day ban on stopping fires

Two months on from the hype about the fires it is presumed by all that the fires in the Amazon have stopped. However this is not the case, the only difference between the months is that the media coverage has stopped. The 60 day ban on fires issued by the government has long since ended and the fires are still occuring at above average rates.

Fires are also occurring outside the Amazon and are not receiving any media coverage. The Cerrado Savannah is ‘one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet.’ There were more fires there than in the Amazon last month. The Cerrado is one of the world’s most biodiverse areas in the world. 40% of plant and animal species can’t be found anywhere else on the planet with populations of jaguars and macaws. According to new research about half of the Cerrado has already been lost, mainly to make way for soy bean farming.

All this shows how forest fires are a serious and terminal issue in our world today and must be remedied immediately. We must all put pressure on the media to report these problems and to put pressure on governments to act and on people to donate and to make a change. That is the only way this problem can be fixed.