Humans Started Record-Breaking Fires in the Amazon Rainforest, According to Environmentalists

Wildfire in Brazil.Photo: Corpo de Bombeiros de Mato Grosso/AP/Shutterstock

In this drone photo released by the Corpo de Bombeiros de Mato Grosso, brush fires burn in Guaranta do Norte municipality, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, a federal agency monitoring deforestation and wildfires, said the country has seen a record number of wildfires this year Environment, Guaranta do Norte, Brazil - 20 Aug 2019

Although officials have said that dry weather and natural factors are behind themassive fires ravaging Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, others are suggesting that humans are likely to blame.

“The vast majority of these fires are human-lit,” Christian Poirier, the program director of non-profit organizationAmazon Watch, told the outlet, pointing out that the humid rainforest doesn’t catch fire easily.

“This year’s fires fit into an established seasonal agricultural pattern,” added CNN meteorologist Haley Brink. “It’s the best time to burn because the vegetation is dry. [Farmers] wait for the dry season and they start burning and clearing the areas so that their cattle can graze. And that’s what we’re suspecting is going on down there.”

Officials with Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) have said humans,dry weather and natural factorsare to blame for the uptick in blazes.

Burning Amazon rainforest.Corpo de Bombeiros de Mato Grosso/AP/Shutterstock

Burning Amazon rainforest.ROGERIO FLORENTINO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

An aerial view of an area of land that has been scorched by fire in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, 20 August 2019 (issued 22 August 2019). According to media reports, the Brazilian Amazon region is suffering a record amount of fires, with an 84 percent increase on the same period last year. Brazilian Amazon region suffers record amount of fires, Mato Grosso, Brazil - 20 Aug 2019

ROGERIO FLORENTINO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Activists have also blamedBrazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonarofor the devastation, noting that the surge of fires began when he took office in January, according to Reuters.

Bolsonaro, who famously fired INPE leader Ricardo Galvão after Galvão spoke out about high deforestation rates, has vowed to explore the Amazon’s economic potential and condemned deforestation warnings that could interfere with trade negotiations.

Recently, the president has suggested the Amazon blazes could have been set in an attempt to make him look back.

“Maybe — I am not affirming it — these [NGO people] are carrying out some criminal actions to draw attention against me, against the government of Brazil,” he told reporters on Wednesday, without providing any evidence, according toUSA Today.

Roni Carvalho/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Fires are “just the most visible symptom” of his policies, the Observatorio do Clima (Climate Observatory)said in a statement, the outlet reported.

There have been 72,843 fires in Brazil this year, marking an 83 percent increase since last year, and satellite images have spotted 9,507 new forest fires in the county — mostly in the Amazon basin — since Aug. 15, according toCNNand Reuters, both citing the INPE.

The Amazon, known as “the planet’s lungs,” produces 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen and is a key factor in combating climate change, CNN noted.

Organizers with theWorld Wildlife Fundhave said that if the Amazon reaches “a point of no return,” it could begin emitting carbon, which is “the major driver for global climate change.”

source: people.com