Amazon Fires

The Amazon rainforest has been burning since July 2019. The rainforest covers most northwest Brazil, and is the largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Slash and Burn

Brazil takes part in a practice of deforestation, called slash-and-burn, says The Verge, in "Everything you need to know about the fires in the Amazon". The reason behind this is to make room for agriculture as well as other developments. The process happens when trees are cut down, and then the remains are set on fire. Setting a fire might also "replenish the soil and encourage the growth of pastures for cattle," says The Verge. According to the US Department of Agriculture, Brazil "is the world's top exporter of beef," and as a result the fires to the Amazon could be intentional, so the agricultural land allows people to eat their meat, says Cathelijne Stoof, coordinator of the Fire Center at Wageningen University.

This year alone, there have been more than 80,000 fires in Brazil, detected by Brazil's space research centre, INPE, says CNET, in "Amazon rainforest fires: What's happening now and how can you help". One cause to the fire as written by CNET, is the summer months, July and August, as they bring dry seasons, as well as the practice of clearing out land for agriculture, has contributed to the forest fire.

However, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's president has suggested the fires were deliberately done by opposing organizations as a sign of protest, without providing any evidence, according to The Verge and CNET.

Climate Change

The logical explanation to the forest fires seems to be deforestation with the added influence of the hot and dry weather. Regardless, serious steps need to be taken as the Amazon plays a crucial role in the survival of the planet, and therefore us. Photosynthesis is the process of plants taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, and the Amazon is such a great area of trees, it "plays a huge role in pulling planet-warming greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere," says The Verge. The fire itself is also raising the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere according to Le Blog De L'Ompe in "Causes et Consequences of forest fires". They continue to explain even the ash from the fire is destroying nutrients and eroding the soil, resulting in floods and landslides.

The Amazon was somewhat steadying the fast pace of climate change, but if the Amazon perishes, climate change would obviously speed up, even more than it already is. Carlos Quesada, a scientist at Brazil's National Institute for Amazonian Research explains, the Amazon was once buying us time but is no longer doing that, as "scientists warn that the rainforest could reach a tipping point, turning into something more like a savanna when it can no longer sustain itself as a rainforest," which means it can't take in the carbon like it has been, and when it does die, the trees and plants, "would release billions of tons of carbon that has been stored for decades - making it nearly impossible to escape a climate catastrophe," as is explained in The Verge.