As thousands of fires ravage the Amazon rainforest, the tropical vegetation, trees, and fauna they harbor are being completely wiped out.
Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research has reported that forest fires have reached a record 72,843 fires this year between January 1 and August 18 , of which more than half are in the Amazon.
There is so much smoke from the forest fires that São Paulo plunged into darkness on August 19, turning day into night. The atmosphere was a reminder that forest fires in the Amazon have increased 82% this year compared to the same period last year (from January to August), according to data from the National Institute for Space Research.
The fires are largely raging in northern Brazil and have prompted the Brazilian state of Amazonas to declare a state of emergency .
Alert
As the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon plays a crucial role in keeping our planet’s carbon dioxide levels in check. Plants and trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air in their photosynthesis process.
This is why the Amazon, which covers 5.5 million kilometers, is often referred to as the “lung of the planet” : the forest produces 20% of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.
The Amazonian dry season generally runs from July to October and peaks in late September. The more humid weather during the rest of the year minimizes the risk of fires at other times. But during the dry season, flames can arise from natural sources, such as lightning. Recall that farmers and loggers also deliberately set fire to the rainforest to clear swaths of the Amazon for industrial or agricultural use.
Deforestation and fires
This week of fires comes on the heels of another troubling milestone for the world’s largest rainforest. The month of July set a new record for the largest deforestation in the Amazon in a single month. The Amazon was reduced by 1,345 square kilometers. That’s more than twice the area of Tokyo (Japan).
Brazilian satellite data indicated that about three Amazon tree soccer fields fell every minute last month. The total deforested area in July increased 39% compared to the same month last year.
Deforestation is directly related to fires in the Amazon, as farmers sometimes set the forest on fire to make room for cattle pastures and farm fields. These intentional burns can get out of control.
“Forest fires in the Amazon are not natural events , but are caused by a combination of droughts and human activities,” a team of researchers wrote in 2018 in a study published in the journal Nature Communications. “Both anthropogenic climate change and regional deforestation are linked to the increased intensity and frequency of droughts in the Amazon.”
The alternating fire drought leads to a nasty feedback loop . Trees store less water during droughts, so their growth slows down, which means they can’t remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These trees then drop additional leaves or die, providing a perfect breeding ground for fires. And without a dense canopy to hold in moisture, the forest loses some of its moisture, which normally prevents fires from starting.
