One of the world’s biggest storage of carbon is on fire for weeks now. The fire is so bad that it has turned day into night in Sao Paulo, thousands of kilometres away.
The Amazon forest in Brazil has witnessed 74,155 fires since January, an 85 percent increase over the previous year, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research(INPE).
Activists are blaming the new Brazilian government’s environmental policies which is letting farmers clear forests for agriculture use by setting it on fire.
“The dry season creates favourable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident,” INPE researcher Alberto Setzer told Reuters. He also stated that the climate isn’t very abnormal this year.
The fires will have a very dangerous consequence on the planet, warn experts. Carbon monoxide and dioxide levels have increased, European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service warned that it will lead to health hazards and warming of the planet.
This is a glass of water filled with rain water in São Paulo, Brazil.
This was taken today. #PrayForTheAmazon pic.twitter.com/XlhxGMSJNH— Madreelefante (@madreelefante) August 22, 2019
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is reportedly known to favour increased agricultural and mining development in the Amazon, called the numbers “a lie”.
INPE stated that these illegally cleared forests are being typically used for farming cattle and growing soybean.
Experts warn if the Amazon turns into a source of carbon rather than being net absorber, global warming will accelerate.
