# The Planet's Lungs Are Choking...and No One Cares



## Laela (Aug 21, 2019)

*Amazon Rainforest, Known as 'The Planet's Lungs,' Has Been Burning at a Record Rate for Weeks*

If the Amazon reaches "a point of no return," it could begin emitting carbon, "the major driver for global climate change"

By Char Adams | August 21, 2019 01:04 PM






Burning Amazon rainforest | NASA

Fires have been raging at a record rate in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest for weeks, threatening wildlife and Earth’s oxygen in a disaster that activists say could drive further climate change.

There have been 72,843 fires in Brazil this year (with more than half in its Amazon region), and satellite images have spotted 9,507 new forest fires in the county — mostly in the Amazon basin — since Thursday, according to CNN and Reuters, both citing Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

The Amazon, known as “the planet’s lungs,” produces 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen and is a key factor in combating climate change, CNN notes.

The impact of the smoke can be felt in São Paulo, even though it’s more than 1,700 miles away from the rainforest, CNN reported.

“Just a little alert to the world: the sky randomly turned dark today in São Paulo, and meteorologists believe it’s smoke from the fires burning *thousands* of kilometers away, in Rondônia or Paraguay,” journalist Shannon Sims tweeted on Monday. “Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke(!). SOS.”





Sky filled with smoke in São Paulo  | AGENCIA ESTADO VIA AP

Photos and videos shared on social media showed huge plumes of smoke coming from the forest, flames and dark skies as a result of the blazes. A map from the European Union’s satellite program, Copernicus, showed smoke covering a large portion of the country and moving into nearby countries.

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical forest, and the fires this year represent an 83 percent increase over the same period of 2018, Reuters reported.

RELATED: There Is ‘No Doubt’ Humans Are Causing Climate Change, Scientists Say in New Report

Officials with the INPE said dry weather and natural factors are solely to blame for the uptick in blazes.


“There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average,”  INPE researcher Alberto Setzer said, according to Reuters. “The dry season creates the favorable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident.”



Organizers with the World Wildlife Fund have said that if the Amazon reaches “a point of no return,” it could begin emitting carbon, which is “the major driver for global climate change.”

Activists have blamed Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro for the fires, noting that the surge of fires began when he took office in January, Reuters reported.


Bolsonaro vowed to explore the Amazon’s economic potential and condemned deforestation warnings that could interfere with trade negotiations.

He dismissed criticism, holding that farmers use fire to clear land this time of year. Bolsonaro famously fired INPE leader Ricardo Galvão after Galvão spoke out about high deforestation rates. Bolsonaro said then that the findings were inaccurate, and the president appears to be taking a similar stance in the wake of news of the fires.

“I am waiting for the next set of numbers, that will not be made up numbers. If they are alarming, I will take notice of them in front of you,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.





Char Adams


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## Evolving78 (Aug 21, 2019)

Thanks for posting. I have no words..


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## brg240 (Aug 21, 2019)

NPR had a segment on this Monday. It really makes me sad because i know that Bolsonaro is encouraging this.  He's an evil man and just doesn't care "progress" for people he cares about/to enrich himself and others like him over anything.

NPR mentioned that a Germany sized chunk of the amazon rainforest has been destroyed since the early 90s


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## Ms. Tarabotti (Aug 22, 2019)

I guess that they think they won't be affected by climate change. Everything is connected- what happens in one area affects everything else.


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## Laela (Aug 22, 2019)

Faulty thinking, that they won't be affected in any way.. smh

Brazil says it can't afford to fight the fires... what's the rest of the world waiting on?? Billions flew to Paris' Notre Dame w/in hours!


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## Kanky (Aug 23, 2019)

I’m not sure what people outside of Brazil are supposed to do. They are burning it intentionally and it is their country. Is the rest of the world supposed to force them to stop?


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## Laela (Aug 23, 2019)

Eat less beef?     ....     Care?

_*"*So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- a figure that could rise in the coming years.
Last year the country shipped 1.64 million tonnes of beef, the highest volume in history, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies.
The growth of Brazil's beef industry has been driven in part by strong demand from Asia -- mostly China and Hong Kong. These two markets alone accounted for nearly 44% of all beef exports from Brazil in 2018, according to the USDA.
And a trade deal struck in June between South America's Mercosur bloc of countries and the European Union could open up even more markets for Brazil's beef-packing industry.* "*_​
Source:
*The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat*





Kanky said:


> *I’m not sure what people outside of Brazil are supposed to do.* They are burning it intentionally and it is their country. Is the rest of the world supposed to force them to stop?


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## Kanky (Aug 23, 2019)

Laela said:


> Eat less beef?     ....     Care?
> 
> _*"*So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.
> 
> ...



I’m in the US and my beef is raised locally. I’m not giving up beef or becoming a vegetarian. Most of the pollution and climate change is caused by a handful of corporations that the government refuses to regulate although they quite easily could. Instead of insisting that these corporations be regulated we choose to harass individuals about meat, driving, lawn watering, plastic bags, straws, and other things that have a much smaller impact overall. In effect we let corporations do what they want and make huge profits while overburdening individuals with expensive and inconvenient regulations. I’m not falling for it. It is a distraction from the real problem.


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## Laela (Aug 23, 2019)

Well, I'm in the Southern U.S.,  where beef is born and raised locally as well. I don't get why this matters here; but this isn't on the same level as "harassing" everyday folks. It's bad enough we (humans) abuse the planet but I also believe that when part of the earth is being destroyed/damaged, it will ultimately affect us all in one form or another. If people don't care, they don't...IMHO, this is a big story that human appetite for meat has a direct effect on the planet and not a pitch for anyone to go vegan.. lol..

I'm compelled to ask what is the real problem this story is apparently distracting us from?



Kanky said:


> I’m in the US and my beef is raised locally. I’m not giving up beef or becoming a vegetarian. Most of the pollution and climate change is caused by a handful of corporations that the government refuses to regulate although they quite easily could. Instead of insisting that these corporations be regulated we choose to harass individuals about meat, driving, lawn watering, plastic bags, straws, and other things that have a much smaller impact overall. In effect we let corporations do what they want and make huge profits while overburdening individuals with expensive and inconvenient regulations. I’m not falling for it.* It is a distraction from the real problem*.


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## Kanky (Aug 23, 2019)

Laela said:


> Well, I'm in the Southern U.S.,  where beef is born and raised locally as well. I don't get why this matters here; but this isn't on the same level as "harassing" everyday folks. It's bad enough we (humans) abuse the planet but I also believe that when part of the earth is being destroyed/damaged, it will ultimately affect us all in one form or another. If people don't care, they don't...IMHO, this is a big story that human appetite for meat has a direct effect on the planet and not a pitch for anyone to go vegan.. lol..
> 
> I'm compelled to ask what is the real problem this story is apparently distracting us from?


The don’t eat meat to save the planet is a distraction from the fact that we will only make a significant difference when we reign in the corporations that cause most of the problem.

The people in Brazil need to make their government make those corporations stop burning down the amazon for profit. If they won’t do so then we are probably screwed because I don’t think that we will convince millions of people to give up beef instead.


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## fluffyforever (Aug 23, 2019)

Corporations are doing what the customers demand, and the customers demand beef. So if customers eat less beef, corporations wouldn’t want to waste money to clear land for farming cattle and food for cattle. It’s not just the amazon, forests all over the world are being cut down for animal agriculture and food to feed the animals. Wasn’t water a problem (still is a problem?) in California, yet so much was going to California cows. 

At some point, people have to be individually responsible because it’s the people that live and breathe. Waiting for a hero in the form of a corporation will keep intentional fires occurring year after year. 

I don’t think everyone can be convinced to give up meat entirely, but I am certain corporations in developing nations will not be convinced to give up making profit because first world nations are asking them to do what they say and not follow in their footsteps of land destruction and exploitation.


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## Laela (Aug 24, 2019)

^^It's a Catch-22, with the supply/demand, ITA...corporations are giving the people what they want.
 The Brazilian leader, as mentioned upthread, has a lot to do with this disaster, yes...but there's the saying doing something Big in a small way can make a change, or something like that....corporations and leaders can be removed and/or challenged when the people speak up. Looks like Trump is extending help from the US to fight the fires..it's a start (or is there something we don't know) .. the other world leaders may try to get Bolsonaro out of leadership...that's a lot of power for one man..but hey, we've been trying to do the same with Trump here for years..


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## Reinventing21 (Aug 25, 2019)

There is a video trending showing a leader of the Amazon tribe saying that he believes the white man will not stop until the forest is dead.


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## itsallaboutattitude (Aug 25, 2019)

Let’s not focus on the genocide of indigenous people of the Amazon on top of the fact that most medicines come from the Amazon and like the article posted in OP mentions Oxygen for the earth 20-25% comes from the Amazon. 

Thankful I decide to not have children.


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## RoundEyedGirl504 (Aug 26, 2019)

Laela said:


> Eat less beef?     ....     Care?
> 
> _*"*So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.
> 
> ...



I am curious what percentage of Brazil's GDP this impacts. Lots of money being made here, what is being offered as a tradeoff for the livelihoods that will be impacted? And what will that "cost" environmentally? The decline in dairy farm revenues was significant due to shifts in consumer tastes, but the shift towards almond based products created an additional issue since almonds require more water to grow and places like California are already tapped. At current population levels and as food interests continue to be corporatized and globalized there is not a simple solution to environmental issues.


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## itsallaboutattitude (Aug 27, 2019)

@RoundEyedGirl504 

If the industrious arsons are planning to grow almond trees, how do they plan to fertilize them since they done burn down the bee population?


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