Raging Amazon wildfires are bad news for the Planet

We are headed for a Climate Armageddon if we don’t pay heed

Forest Fires have been raging across the globe warning us of the impending environmental doom that we have thrust upon us. Unchecked carbon emissions & dragging our feet on the climate change initiatives have resulted in these extreme events. It was very recently that I wrote about the Arctic Fires spread over a region from Siberia to Alaska.

Lots of concerns have been raised by scientists over the massive deforestation of the Amazon Rainforests over the years caused by massive urbanization. Why is this a problem for the whole planet? Well, these rainforests produce more than 20% of the oxygen that we breathe, practically acting as the lungs of the planet.

Currently, there are more than 72,843 forest fires that have broken out this year so far — Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has reported an increase of 83% in the fire incidence cases over last year & termed this as the worst season ever since the agency starting keeping records in 2013.

The intensity of the recent fires is such that the smoke from it coupled with clouds completely darkened São Paulo, — a city of 12 million people some 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) away. Although there are macro trends of Climate change at play, the deliberate setting of fires by farmers to clear the land for crops & cattle ranching has exacerbated the situation further.

Politics have been at play with the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro had who promised to allow the deforestation of the Amazon jungle for more farming and mining during his election campaign. It’s actually an international issue considering the importance of the Amazon rainforest for the planet. Yet Bolsonarohad fired the director of INPE recently for highlighting the rising deforestation.

He termed this as some kind of political conspiracy against him by nongovernmental organizations who are setting these fires deliberately! We saw similar moves from the Trump administration when it came to power in 2017 — pulling out of the historic Paris Climate accord of 2015, falling back on fossil fuels for energy production & depicting Climate change as some kind of hoax. A huge setback for Climate change initiatives.

The Amazon forest spans nine countries and has 17% of the World’s carbon trapped in forests & vegetation, apart from a rich source of biodiversity. While the deforestation had been on a decline in recent years, thanks to movements like “Save the Rainforest.” It has risen again significantly in the last year, pumping billions of tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Clearly, a collective international initiative needs to be enforced aggressively. We as the people of the planet need to overcome the petty issues of politics & business to save it before the Climate Armageddon sets in.