As the Amazon rainforest is being ravaged by wildfires, conservationists and Brazil’s government leaders roast each other in social media.
Conservationists have blamed Brazil’s government for Amazon’s plight charging Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro as encouraging the clearing of land by loggers and farmers, thereby speeding up the deforestation of the rainforest. The result is very evident.
On the other hand, Bolsonaro comments that the fire has been caused by green groups, without proof to make good his accusation.
On Wednesday, August 21, the wildfire-ravaged the rain forest sparked off #PrayforAmazonars with the ravaged Amazon forests on Twitter and other social media platforms.
A Twitter user laments how human life will be affected by disasters ravaging the earth.
No matter how successful we are, if our Earth dies, we all die
Since 2013, Brazil has never had forest fires as much as has been recorded this year. A total of 73,000 forest fires in the Amazon have been recorded in the first eight months of the year.
Flashbacks and fingerpointing
The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) compared this year Amazon rainforest wildfires with the figure of 2018, which was thirty-nine thousand seven hundred fifty-nine (39,759).
The report by INPE showed that there has been an increase in forest fires over the months, revealing the incompetence of the head of INPE.
From previous observations, it is already known that wild forest fires increase during the dry seasons and continues towards the end of October or early November.
The World Wide Fund had blamed the overly increased wildfires on deforestation, an activity which has increased recently. This year’s sharp increase in wildfires was similarly attributed by the nonprofit group to accelerating deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
The WWF believes that fire is a technique used to bring about deforestation which further supports the suggestion of the president. The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro still maintains that the WWF masterminded the wildfire to get his attention on the WWF fund he reduced.
Root cause of Amazon rainforest fires
Brazil was supposed to be the host for the 25th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP25), but it backed out due to some objectives the president identified as impossible to achieve. This decision by the Brazil president didn’t go well with the activists, leading to a protest on the major city.
A member of the Brazilian Association of NGOs, Camila Veiga explained how the wildfires are the consequence of a policy of environmental devastation.
Environment Minister Ricardo Salles had agreed with the decision of the president on deforestation.
Brazil’s president is committed to preserving the environment but he confirmed that his government lacks the resources to fight the fires in the Amazon.
This is not exclusive to Brazil but could happen anywhere as politics and other pecuniary interests clash with commonsense, compassion and environment preservation.
Indeed, we need further education on climate change and its devastating effects on the environment, including the Amazon rainforests and denizens.
