The world’s lungs are currently inflamed as we speak. One of the world’s largest tropical forests, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, has been burning down since January due to the weather being dry and hot. The fires are now affecting the health of thousands of animals and humans and is hurting the Earth as well.
This isn’t the first time the Amazon Rainforest has been on fire, and with the forest covering billions of square kilometers of land in multiple countries. This is the largest series of wildfires the Amazon has ever experienced. Compared to past fires, this year has already destroyed over 50,000 kilometers of the Amazon. Another contributing factor to the severity of wildfire is that the Federative Republic of Brazil was late to respond to the scene. Their government denied the 20 million dollars worth of help from G7 countries that are willing to help contain the fire in August. The Brazzilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, finally said that he would accept the aid from other countries if the government is allowed to spend the money on their own terms and take full responsibility of containing the fire. Due to the delayed response to stop the fires, the fires have already expanded to an extreme extent that causes fear for many.
The Amazon is home to millions of different species. It holds 10% of the world’s animal species and around 40,000 different plant species. These many species are losing their shelter and natural resources to this fire.
The Amazon Rainforest wildfire, being one of the largest in all its lifetime, spikes a fear of how it’ll affect the people of Brazil and the world’s environment in general. The forest alone supplies 20% of the worlds oxygen and with is also home to freshwater resources. This fire is also hurting the Earth, as it is contributing to the world wide problem known as Global Warming. It is also hurting many residents that live in the countries that hold a part of the Amazon Rainforest. A college student in Brazil expressed the grey sky everyday, the smell of smoke in the air, and the city he lives in, Brazil, is being covered in ash from the Amazon. Many people are also developing respiratory diseases, as it has been reported many people are in the hospital due to illnesses caused by bad air.
Many people wonder how they can help the Amazon. With the Republic of Brazil wanting to take the problem in their hands, the people around them don’t have much power in helping. Senior Rio Castanon says, “The UN should step on as well as organizations like World Wide Fund for Nature.” The UN has been trying to get all countries, companies, and consumers themselves to pay attention more and become one with nature. Some members of the UN Convention of Biological spoke about the Amazon fires and how everyone should start preparing to protect the ecosystems being threatened and maintain the climate or else humanity would face extreme consequences. The WWF has tried to help by providing ways to help the Amazon. Despite the many organizations trying to step in to help, UN officials believe more help is still required to end the fire. Senior and new Miss Teen Kern County Destiny Castillo Ortiz says, “It’s frustrating the Brazilian government is turning a blind eye to it.” Despite people continue to think of ways to help the situation in the Amazon, it still continues to be an on going world crisis to everyone today.