Roommates, the world’s largest rainforest is currently ablaze with no end in sight. Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest is reportedly burning at the highest rate since the National Institute for Space Research began tracking it in 2013. Now, scientists worry this could be a major setback in the fight against climate change.
According to CNN, the Amazon is often referred to as the earth’s lungs because it is responsible for the production of 20% of the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere. There have been almost 730,000 fires in Brazil this year, with more than half in the Amazon region.
The rainforest is the largest rainforest on the planet, measured at almost half the size of the United States. According to reports, smoke from the fires has reached more than 1,700 miles into the city of Sao Paolo, causing the sky to be pitch black in the middle of. the afternoon.
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Social media users have taken to online platforms with dramatic images and videos showing giant gatherings of smoke, ashes, and waste looming in the air.
Although environmental groups have been campaigning to save the Amazon, many blame Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro for the endangerment of the forest. People native to the country accuse him of encouraging deforestation, and decreasing environmental controls.
In July, an environmental group called Bolsonaro and his government a “threat to the climate equilibrium” and wanted that his policies would cost the Brazilian economy a lot in the long run.
Environmental activists and organizations like the World Wildlife Fund reportedly warn that if the Amazon continues to burn, it will reach a point of no return. At that point, the rainforest could become a dry savannah, making it inhabitable for its wildlife.
As a result, the rainforest could start emitting carbon instead of being a source of oxygen. Unfortunately, carbon is a major contributor to climate change, which scientists and researchers very desperately want to combat.
