The ‘Lungs of the World’ aka the Amazon rainforest has been burning for over 2 weeks. TIME magazine reports that 74,155 forest fires were detected last week in Brazil and the smoke emitted by them turned the afternoon sky ash grey in major cities like São Paulo. Usually, during dry months fires erupt from natural causes but this time around the disaster is said to be man-made.
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro is in favour of opening up the hitherto protected land for commercial purposes like mining, logging and agriculture. His rolling back of strict laws regarding the rainforest has encouraged deforestation and farmers lighting fires to clear the area.
Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is on fire pic.twitter.com/UzmN19KRKB
— The Independent (@Independent) August 21, 2019
The sad part is that the disaster didn’t receive global media coverage up until a few days ago. Even an online search of ‘Amazon fire’ threw up results for the ‘Fire TV Stick’ launched by Jeff Bezos’ company of the same name. The situation was corrected when people all over the world started sharing information on social media and #PrayForAmazonia started trending.
The government’s ineffectiveness in putting out the fires sparked massive protests worldwide. Thousands of people gathered at Brazilian embassies in London, Mexico City and Paris and expressed their outrage.
Protest in London in front of Brazilian embassy. Protestors are demanding resignation of President Bolsonaro for his complicity in the Amazon fires. The struggle for climate justice is becoming global. #ClimateEmergency #AmazonFires #ActForTheAmazon pic.twitter.com/SJWHMULpso
— Ammar Ali Jan (@ammaralijan) August 23, 2019
The Hindu quoted Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar saying,
“There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has also stated they will oppose the EU trade deal and discuss this international crisis at the G7 Summit to be held this weekend.
Following the massive protests and diplomatic pressure to act, the Brazilian president has announced the deployment of the armed forces to help tackle the grim situation. He has also vowed to act against illegal deforestation in the Amazon basin.
#EyeOnTheAmazon: With the Brazilian Amazon in Flames, We Must All Be the Resistance! These fires were set deliberately. A global solidarity movement must rise to directly oppose Bolsonaro. https://t.co/tHUGphnvGy #AmazonFires #PrayForTheAmazon #ActForTheAmazon pic.twitter.com/GTVDrUqfva
— Amazon Watch (@amazonwatch) August 23, 2019
This announcement coupled with the rainfall recorded in some areas is set to extinguish some of the fires. Apart from this, what we can do is to read, understand what’s happening, spread awareness and also donate to the following organisations – Amazon Watch, Rainforest Trust, Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Conservation Team.