By Allison Clare
In case you've been living under a rock, the Amazon rainforest is burning at a devastatingly rapid rate. Social media was set ablaze last month with various posts calling for action to stop the forest fires, but the attacks on the Amazon are an ongoing problem that began long before the public outrage.
Spanning over 2.2 million square miles, the Amazon is mostly found in Brazil, with 60% of its area contained in the nation. Unfortunately, scientists from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research have revealed that 74,155 forest fires — and counting — have occurred since the beginning of this year.
This poses a significant threat to the global ecosystem, which the Amazon plays a key role in. Age of Awareness notes that not only is it home to 10% of the world’s known biodiversity, but it also serves as the lungs of the earth, as it's one of our planet's biggest producers of oxygen. Losing it would be catastrophic both for the ecosystem and the human race.
The fire is not just a threat to the environment. As it engulfs protected reserves and forests, it is also affecting indigenous tribes. The Awá indigenous people are the world's most endangered tribe, and have been reportedly affected by the blazes. The Awá people, alongside other tribes like the Tenharim and Karipuna, have been in a long running battle with the government and big businesses to protect the rainforest. Advocacy groups believe that some fires were intentionally started to drive dwellers away, as the tension between land grabbers and environmentalists continues.
The uptick of these rainforest fires makes the earth's future appear even bleaker. Add this to the already worrying state of climate change, and it should be a given for both Brazil and the whole world to do everything they can to preserve the Amazon. So, why does the protection of this integral element of the environment appear to be a lost cause? Well, the struggle to save the Amazon is a tale of Brazil's politics, corruption, and corporate greed.
The current president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been a polarizing figure, to say the least. When Bolsonaro secured around 55% of the vote in the national elections in October 2018, the world was stunned to see a man who openly praised dictatorship and used sexist and racist rhetoric win the presidential seat. But his far-right stance didn't matter to the Brazilians who supported him.
In 2014, Brazil was caught in one of the world's largest corruption scandals called Operation Car Wash, where many of the country's politicians, including past presidents, were caught accepting bribes from the oil producer Petrobras. For many Brazilians, this was the last straw, and Bolsonaro's subsequent promise to end crime and corruption in the country won many hearts — and ballots.
The controversial imprisonment of presidential candidate Lula da Silva as a result of Operation Car Wash was a turning point for the country, as it revealed just how deeply broken the system was at the time. His imprisonment came precisely at the right time for Bolsonaro, who no longer had to compete with Lula's high approval ratings and imminent victory. Despite the global outrage — with no less than the United Nations calling for Lula to be allowed on the ballot — the Supreme Court sentenced him to 25 years in prison and barred him from the elections. Today, Lula da Silva sits in prison, appealing for his case and claiming that the charges are all politically motivated.
Even though there were claims of a dirty election, a sufficient number of Brazilians were ultimately driven by desperation or, for some, hate to choose Bolsonaro. Holding on to his questionable views was the only solution to the worrying problem of corruption for voters, even if it meant ignoring his alarming stance on the environment. Upon his election, Bolsonaro pardoned prisoners who were convicted on environmental damage charges. It is ironic, and predictable, that Bolsonaro is now ensnared in many corruption scandals.
More recently, his administration's Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias divulged plans to open indigenous lands to commercial farmers. This is incredibly alarming, as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization states that animal agriculture is a greater driver of pollution than all forms of transportation. Already, Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of beef in the world, with 50% of its livestock raised in pasturelands that used to be rainforest. From here, it's not hard to connect the dots linking Brazil's massive beef industry to the Amazon fires, and to see which of the two has been deemed to be more important by those in power.
Unfortunately for the rest of the world, the fires churn out massive amounts of noxious gases and carbon dioxide emissions, killing trees that would otherwise convert them into oxygen — essentially speeding up global warming and the climate crisis. This, in turn, can worsen extreme weather patterns in countries across the globe, with devastating effects in low-lying islands and typhoon-battered countries like the Philippines. Here, the climate crisis accelerated by the Amazon fires can worsen storms, destabilize weather patterns, and cause sea levels to rise. Countries like the Maldives, Seychelles, and parts of the state of Hawaii could soon disappear, as the volume of water surrounding these islands continue to increase.
Bolsonaro knows that the rich biodiversity found in the country is good business for agricultural companies, and he's not afraid to sacrifice it. To capitalize on this industry, he basically opened the Amazon for business. Despite the short-term economic advantages, it would be an understatement to say that the environmental repercussions of this are completely devastating for the rest of the world.
While outrage on social media helps bring awareness, action is important in saving the Amazon from complete deforestation. On top of signing petitions and using our voice online, we can choose to stop consuming beef and refuse to support big agribusiness. Remember, every bite counts in the bid to save the planet.