There have been serious forest fires for a long time: Norway, Siberia, now Amazon forests are burning. The scale of the problem is so large that the smoke is visible from space. According to the state-owned research institute INPE, the number of fires compared to 2018 increased by 84%. This is a huge difference and a great loss for the ecosystem, nature and the entire planet. What is the situation like? What are the current fire statistics?
Amazon forests are on fire - what is the situation?
There was an hour-long blackout in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday afternoon. The smoke came from and originated in a forest 2700 kilometers away. Locals describe the event and the sight of the fire as something terrifying and extraordinary - the smoke was everywhere and nothing was seen. It just got very dark. Despite the daylight hours, the night won over the day, darkness came. Smoke visible even from space. We know this from the NASA report - the team published satellite photos very quickly - you can see a cloud over Brazil.
What is the scale of the Amazon forest fires?The number of fires is increasing - the situation is very serious!
The Amazon is on fire - the Amazon forests are burning, and unfortunately not from today. INPE recorded 74 fires from January to August. This is a huge number - it was so bad lately in 2013. The previous year was milder, as there were just over 40 fires in the same period, and in 2016 - 68.
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“The Lungs of the World on Fire”
These are great losses for nature, animals die and we lose precious oxygen. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the entire world. The Amazon forests are called the "lungs of the world". The Amazon is an invaluable store of carbon dioxide - it slows down global warming. There are approximately three million species of plants and animals in forests. We also cannot forget that one million indigenous people live here permanently. Forests in the Amazon are burning, usually due to drought or deliberate arson. We recently wrote about Norway's withdrawal from subsidies for the Amazon Forest and the reaction of the Brazilian president to this fact: Norway's subsidies to the Amazon - why withheld? The money that was to be spent on the protection of this place, so important for ecology, is not used as originally intended.
