The Amazon Forest Has Been Burning For Weeks And NASA Shares Photos From Space
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On Monday afternoon, the whole city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, went completely dark – as it turns out, the city was buried in smoke by the strong winds coming from the Amazon rainforest fires burning nearly 1,700 miles away. According to Reuters, Brazil’s space research center INPE has detected almost 72,843 wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest.
(This photo was taken during Amazon fires in 1989)
The research center states that their satellite data showed an 83% increase in the same period in 2018, showing that this year Amazon has suffered a record number of forest fires.
Image credits: shannongsims
The citizens of Sao Paulo were shocked when they witnessed a daytime blackout, one Twitter user said: “Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke”.
Image credits: shannongsims
Image credits: shannongsims
Image credits: shannongsims
The blackout lasted around an hour and came from the fires burning in the states of Amazonas and Rondonia. Together with the veil of smoke the levels of CO2 spiked greatly in the surrounding areas.
Image credits: Leandro Matozo/GloboNews
Image credits: bilocabr
Image credits: sevenstarsARMY
But they weren’t the only ones who noticed an increased fire activity. NASA released photos taken from space which show smoke surrounding the Amazon rainforest.
Image credits: leandromota
Image credits: NASA
Even though the Amazon has been relatively fire-resistant due to its natural moisture and humidity, wildfires have increased during the last couple of decades and the cause is attributed to a combination of drought and human activity.
Image credits: NASA
Experts associate this year’s increase with Jair Bolsonaro who took office as president in January and vowed to develop the Amazon region for farming and mining, ignoring the increased deforestation.
Image credits: NASA
This map shows current CO concentration level in South America.
Here’s how people reacted
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Sometimes I feel like crying when I see what we're doing to our planet, and I'm kind of glad I don't have kids so they can live through what will follow...
I agree! It's so discouraging! Things like this make me feel helpless, like how is one person supposed to help make a difference?
I once read a story about a young girl walking on a beach that had millions of starfish washed up. She was picking up one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean while others watched on in amusement. Finally a man asked why she was bothering, she could never make a difference. She picked up another, threw it into the ocean and said "I made a difference for that one". He began to help, and one by one, everyone else started to pitch in and eventually there were no starfish left. I agree it's discouraging with the shape our world is in at the moment, but it only takes ONE person to lead the change.
Follow the movement and go on strike on Fridays
But you can easily make a difference, it will just require you to make changes you’re unwilling to make.
Beef production is the reason for these fires (and animal agriculture itself is the leading cause for the destruction of our planet), but whenever I say that out loud, the same people who cry for our planet become hostile against me. Here in Bored Panda I can see that by the amount of downvotes my comments get. So my question is, what do y'all want to do about this situation? What are you ready to do? Anything?
Acting like you know the reason for something that scientists can't pinpoint appears to be pretty arrogant and that is likely why people are downvoting.
They knock down more than what is burning every year so you can eat burgers and cry self righteously.
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Unless a human started the fire... then its nature doing its thing. You really think no fires existed before humans?
your sheer willful ignorance is seriously alarming. Do you not realize that huge tracts have been deforested, then filled with elephant grass so it can't even recover? Do you realize that species and indigenous populations have lived harmoniously for millennia until the need to feed cattle and grow things like soy preempted it? Of course fires were natural. Jesus H Fucking Christ. The ignorance is astounding.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
...Big forest fires are something normal. I agree that human-caused fires are not good but everytime I read about a forest fire and there are people that act like the end of the world. Not only they are normal but they are needed. Think about it a bit. When plants live they use the nutrients of the soil, big old trees make thick shade and prevent new trees and plants from growing under them etc. Big forest fires are natural ways of making the soil rich of nutrients again and lets new plants grow and this is the natural way of making live even more abundant, new species can grow that are more adapt to the environment if it has changed with the passage of years (Which again is a normal thing. In the nature nothing is constant, ages come and go, the climate changes the continents keep moving and reforming)...Fires can start with or without humans (summer heat, lightnings), species that can not adapt perish (in the live of this planet millions did so).
These aren't natural forest fires. These are people deliberately burning the Rainforests so they can farm cattle and mine for rare minerals. We need the natural diversity and carbon dioxide absorption that they offer.
There's nothing normal when a RAINforest is burning! There's nothing normal when Sibiria is burning, there's nothing normal when Europe is burning, there's nothing normal with temperatures so high flying animals drop dead from the sky!
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
you realise this is a natural phenomonon that happens once every couple of hundred years, right? its a natural burning. the ecosystem cleaning itself.
I realize the fires could be natural, my reaction was more to the fact the president "vowed" to mine and farm the Amazon
To read that their president vowed to use the amazon for farming and mining sickens and disappoints me. I live no where near the Amazon and even I know how important it is to our planet. The animals... the ecosystem.... all being destroyed.
Coming back to this post, Bolivia has already had more than 2 million hectares burnt thanks to president Evo Morales who gave away land to his people in the forest. These people want that land so they can cultivate more coca and they are the ones who keep on burning it despite de volunteers effort to fight against the fire. Evo Morales refuses to ask for international help and to declare a national emergency. Their "colonos" even asked for more land. It's heartbreaking to see all the wild fauna burnt. Heartbreaking. Impotence agains this government is the least we can say
Why are they farming and mining? What is being farmed and mined? Figure that out and stop buying it.
Profit, the amazon doesn't make money for Brazil so why not use it for something useful. This outdated point of view is stupid and is gonna destroy our world
@Mewton's Third Paw: Yep, the 100 people who decide to do that, do the research, and stick with it is really going to make ALL the difference. Yep.
This is so sad and honestly, scary
Prime example of mankind’s greed and disregard for home
Sometimes I feel like crying when I see what we're doing to our planet, and I'm kind of glad I don't have kids so they can live through what will follow...
I agree! It's so discouraging! Things like this make me feel helpless, like how is one person supposed to help make a difference?
I once read a story about a young girl walking on a beach that had millions of starfish washed up. She was picking up one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean while others watched on in amusement. Finally a man asked why she was bothering, she could never make a difference. She picked up another, threw it into the ocean and said "I made a difference for that one". He began to help, and one by one, everyone else started to pitch in and eventually there were no starfish left. I agree it's discouraging with the shape our world is in at the moment, but it only takes ONE person to lead the change.
Follow the movement and go on strike on Fridays
But you can easily make a difference, it will just require you to make changes you’re unwilling to make.
Beef production is the reason for these fires (and animal agriculture itself is the leading cause for the destruction of our planet), but whenever I say that out loud, the same people who cry for our planet become hostile against me. Here in Bored Panda I can see that by the amount of downvotes my comments get. So my question is, what do y'all want to do about this situation? What are you ready to do? Anything?
Acting like you know the reason for something that scientists can't pinpoint appears to be pretty arrogant and that is likely why people are downvoting.
They knock down more than what is burning every year so you can eat burgers and cry self righteously.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Unless a human started the fire... then its nature doing its thing. You really think no fires existed before humans?
your sheer willful ignorance is seriously alarming. Do you not realize that huge tracts have been deforested, then filled with elephant grass so it can't even recover? Do you realize that species and indigenous populations have lived harmoniously for millennia until the need to feed cattle and grow things like soy preempted it? Of course fires were natural. Jesus H Fucking Christ. The ignorance is astounding.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
...Big forest fires are something normal. I agree that human-caused fires are not good but everytime I read about a forest fire and there are people that act like the end of the world. Not only they are normal but they are needed. Think about it a bit. When plants live they use the nutrients of the soil, big old trees make thick shade and prevent new trees and plants from growing under them etc. Big forest fires are natural ways of making the soil rich of nutrients again and lets new plants grow and this is the natural way of making live even more abundant, new species can grow that are more adapt to the environment if it has changed with the passage of years (Which again is a normal thing. In the nature nothing is constant, ages come and go, the climate changes the continents keep moving and reforming)...Fires can start with or without humans (summer heat, lightnings), species that can not adapt perish (in the live of this planet millions did so).
These aren't natural forest fires. These are people deliberately burning the Rainforests so they can farm cattle and mine for rare minerals. We need the natural diversity and carbon dioxide absorption that they offer.
There's nothing normal when a RAINforest is burning! There's nothing normal when Sibiria is burning, there's nothing normal when Europe is burning, there's nothing normal with temperatures so high flying animals drop dead from the sky!
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
you realise this is a natural phenomonon that happens once every couple of hundred years, right? its a natural burning. the ecosystem cleaning itself.
I realize the fires could be natural, my reaction was more to the fact the president "vowed" to mine and farm the Amazon
To read that their president vowed to use the amazon for farming and mining sickens and disappoints me. I live no where near the Amazon and even I know how important it is to our planet. The animals... the ecosystem.... all being destroyed.
Coming back to this post, Bolivia has already had more than 2 million hectares burnt thanks to president Evo Morales who gave away land to his people in the forest. These people want that land so they can cultivate more coca and they are the ones who keep on burning it despite de volunteers effort to fight against the fire. Evo Morales refuses to ask for international help and to declare a national emergency. Their "colonos" even asked for more land. It's heartbreaking to see all the wild fauna burnt. Heartbreaking. Impotence agains this government is the least we can say
Why are they farming and mining? What is being farmed and mined? Figure that out and stop buying it.
Profit, the amazon doesn't make money for Brazil so why not use it for something useful. This outdated point of view is stupid and is gonna destroy our world
@Mewton's Third Paw: Yep, the 100 people who decide to do that, do the research, and stick with it is really going to make ALL the difference. Yep.
This is so sad and honestly, scary
Prime example of mankind’s greed and disregard for home