The Amazon Perished for Greed
Our lungs were on fire and it didn’t reach the media until weeks after ranging fires continued. The Amazon Rainforest is home to millions of species and hundreds of tribes yet didn’t get a lot of media coverage. Yes, the Amazon gets thousands of fires every year especially in the dry season but this one was different. This one completely wiped out a large part of the forest. It is important for people to be aware of the fire, the destruction it brought and how to help.
Which brings me to the proper cause of the fire. Deforestation. Bolsonaro purposefully let the fires burn with the intention of clearing land for agricultural purposes. Brazil is one of the leading countries in beef and soy production and due to the increase in demand, Bolsonaro began clearing the Amazon. Deforestation has therefore increased by about 60% in June compared to last year. The graph below shows the number of fires before regulations, after regulations and in 2019, the graph was taken from National Geographic.
By looking at the graph one can see that in 2019 despite the efforts of leaders in the past placing regulations, the number of fires in 2019 are much higher than they were just after regulations were placed. Proving, that we as humans are capable to do good for the environment. These fires may be controlled again but only if Bolsonaro tightens the regulations again.
There are hundreds of tribes that call the Amazon rainforest their home. Around 50 of these tribes haven’t had contact with people outside their tribe i.e. with modern society. These homes of these tribesmen have also been burnt or ruined and may never recover quick enough endangering them as well.
The soil will take many years to be as fertile as it was. The rainforest will not recover for the next couple of years. I bring up the concept of soil fertility because without it being as good as it was Earth’s lungs may never recover. The Amazon provides 20% of the Earth’s oxygen. Might not sound like much until we lose that 20% then we all going to feel it. But since we haven’t felt it yet I’m going to tell you what we are feeling now.
Due to the fire being a large one it released a lot of pollutants into the atmosphere. It released Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide, and Carbon Dioxide. All which are bad for the atmosphere. But because we don’t care about the atmosphere as much as we care about ourselves as the human race in general. These gases also affect us in the following ways; Carbon Monoxide (also comes from car exhausts and industrial activities such as making steel as well as Tobacco smoke) reduces the amount of oxygen carried by hemoglobin around the body in red blood cells. Resulting in vital organs not to receive enough oxygen to work properly. A small increase causes people to become clumsy, getting tired quicker, decreased levels of concentration. People with heart problems will suffer from more frequent and longer angina attacks and an increased risk of getting a heart attack.
Nitrogen Oxide (also comes from car exhausts, burning of coal, diesel fuel, cigarettes, gas stoves, and wood-burning) causes irritation of the respiratory system, eyes, and skin; coughing, choking, nausea, headaches, abdominal pain and difficulty breathing and long term wise may cause Asthma and Respiratory Infections. Very high levels of this may also cause death, genetic mutations, harm in fetus development, decreased female fertility, swelling in the throat and a dilated heart.
Finally, Carbon Dioxide, another greenhouse, that we all aware of. The thing is so much of this was produced, yet we were burning the solution to our problem of greenhouse gasses accelerating climate change. Weird isn’t it. Like lets clear land up for agricultural purposes but let’s harm the environment and fellow citizens while doing it.
Business-wise, because more people care about business than the environment, the Pharmaceutical supply is at risk. About 25% of Pharmaceutical Drugs sold in the United States of America are derived from 40 Amazon plants. Due to the burning, this will affect the production of the supplies.
Although it may be helpful to the Brazilian economy in a way due to the increased production of beef and soy production. The fire caused more of a loss than it will ever bring a profit.
Professionally, companies can create initiatives and goals to become more environmentally sustainable due to the increase of pollutants in the air that were caused by the fire. Additionally you may also donate to the above causes.
Politically, we as citizens can push our governments to do more. As Great Thunberg stated, activism does work.
The Amazon fire has happened. Let us learn from it, see our errors in Society, our Governments and ourselves. Although we make bad decisions, let that not mean we won’t make good decisions in the future. Let this not dictate our future. Let us together as humanity help each other to create a better place. I believe that that is indeed possible as long as we put our minds to it.
Causes
One might ask what’s so different about this fire if fires in the Amazon are common especially during the dry season. Well, the regulations were put into place in 1988 in order to prevent deforestation which causes a spike in fires as well as to protect the indigenous tribes. In 2008 regulations were placed to protect the forest even further. Brazil’s current president, Jair Bolsonaro, loosened those regulations that protected certain areas the Amazon from deforestation. Now allowing activities such as mining, logging, deforestation, and farming.Which brings me to the proper cause of the fire. Deforestation. Bolsonaro purposefully let the fires burn with the intention of clearing land for agricultural purposes. Brazil is one of the leading countries in beef and soy production and due to the increase in demand, Bolsonaro began clearing the Amazon. Deforestation has therefore increased by about 60% in June compared to last year. The graph below shows the number of fires before regulations, after regulations and in 2019, the graph was taken from National Geographic.
By looking at the graph one can see that in 2019 despite the efforts of leaders in the past placing regulations, the number of fires in 2019 are much higher than they were just after regulations were placed. Proving, that we as humans are capable to do good for the environment. These fires may be controlled again but only if Bolsonaro tightens the regulations again.
Effects
The biodiversity within the forest has drastically decreased, due to animals dying from either the fire, the amount of carbon dioxide inhaled causing them to suffocate or starvation and other causes. Basically, the natural ecosystem is disturbed causing an imbalance and therefore causing some species to be endangered or even be facing extinction due to the Amazon burning.There are hundreds of tribes that call the Amazon rainforest their home. Around 50 of these tribes haven’t had contact with people outside their tribe i.e. with modern society. These homes of these tribesmen have also been burnt or ruined and may never recover quick enough endangering them as well.
The soil will take many years to be as fertile as it was. The rainforest will not recover for the next couple of years. I bring up the concept of soil fertility because without it being as good as it was Earth’s lungs may never recover. The Amazon provides 20% of the Earth’s oxygen. Might not sound like much until we lose that 20% then we all going to feel it. But since we haven’t felt it yet I’m going to tell you what we are feeling now.
Due to the fire being a large one it released a lot of pollutants into the atmosphere. It released Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide, and Carbon Dioxide. All which are bad for the atmosphere. But because we don’t care about the atmosphere as much as we care about ourselves as the human race in general. These gases also affect us in the following ways; Carbon Monoxide (also comes from car exhausts and industrial activities such as making steel as well as Tobacco smoke) reduces the amount of oxygen carried by hemoglobin around the body in red blood cells. Resulting in vital organs not to receive enough oxygen to work properly. A small increase causes people to become clumsy, getting tired quicker, decreased levels of concentration. People with heart problems will suffer from more frequent and longer angina attacks and an increased risk of getting a heart attack.
Nitrogen Oxide (also comes from car exhausts, burning of coal, diesel fuel, cigarettes, gas stoves, and wood-burning) causes irritation of the respiratory system, eyes, and skin; coughing, choking, nausea, headaches, abdominal pain and difficulty breathing and long term wise may cause Asthma and Respiratory Infections. Very high levels of this may also cause death, genetic mutations, harm in fetus development, decreased female fertility, swelling in the throat and a dilated heart.
Finally, Carbon Dioxide, another greenhouse, that we all aware of. The thing is so much of this was produced, yet we were burning the solution to our problem of greenhouse gasses accelerating climate change. Weird isn’t it. Like lets clear land up for agricultural purposes but let’s harm the environment and fellow citizens while doing it.
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| City of Brazil, Cao Paolo, blacked by pollutants from the Amazon Rainforst Fire. |
Business-wise, because more people care about business than the environment, the Pharmaceutical supply is at risk. About 25% of Pharmaceutical Drugs sold in the United States of America are derived from 40 Amazon plants. Due to the burning, this will affect the production of the supplies.
Although it may be helpful to the Brazilian economy in a way due to the increased production of beef and soy production. The fire caused more of a loss than it will ever bring a profit.
Call to Action:
Personally, we can follow leaders like Leonardo DiCaprio and donate to charitable causes such as The Rainforest Action Network, Rainforest Trust, Amazon Watch, Rainforest Alliance, or as DiCaprio co-launched Earth Alliance. DiCaprio pledged $5 million “to focus critical resources for indigenous communities and other local partners working to protect the life-sustaining biodiversity of the Amazon against the surge of fires currently burning across the region.”Professionally, companies can create initiatives and goals to become more environmentally sustainable due to the increase of pollutants in the air that were caused by the fire. Additionally you may also donate to the above causes.
Politically, we as citizens can push our governments to do more. As Great Thunberg stated, activism does work.
The Amazon fire has happened. Let us learn from it, see our errors in Society, our Governments and ourselves. Although we make bad decisions, let that not mean we won’t make good decisions in the future. Let this not dictate our future. Let us together as humanity help each other to create a better place. I believe that that is indeed possible as long as we put our minds to it.
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