Scientists Say Amazon Wildfires Caused by Rise in Deforestation

Blazing wildfires in the Amazon rainforest have garnered international attention and concern, which prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call on international leaders to hold discussions about the fires during the August 24-26, 2019, G7 summit in France. According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the country has experienced more than 76,000 wildfires this year, most of them in the Amazon. This represents an 80 percent increase from the same period last year. Brazilian Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles blamed “Dry weather, wind, and heat” for the fires, but leading scientists contend the fires are a result of a recent spike in deforestation. Paulo Artaxo, an atmospheric physicist at the University of São Paulo, said that the fires are surging in a pattern typical of forest clearing, along the boundaries of agricultural lands, according to Science Insider. “There is no doubt that this rise in fire activity is associated with a sharp rise in deforestation,” said Artaxo. After trees are chopped down, developers typically set fires to remove residual vegetation in order to convert a patch of land into pastures or agricultural land. The Amazon last experienced a severe drought in 2010 caused by El Niño and a warming of the North Atlantic. This year the dry season has been relatively mild and does not explain the dramatic increase in fires. “If we had another drought year now, the situation would be ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news