Latin Analysis: Inferno In The Amazon
Conscious Design
The lungs of the earth are on fire. The Amazon Rainforest, which spans eight countries in South America, is experiencing its worst fire season in 20 years. During the start of the dry season, Brazil recorded 11,500 fires in July, followed by a staggering 38,000 in August. Brazil and Bolivia have suffered most of these blazes, with 66 per cent and 32 per cent respectively, while Venezuela and Peru also reached record levels. Unlike previous years, most fires have been concentrated in primary forest, rather than already ‘degraded’ zones.
Ecological and environmental factors have combined with certain political decisions to create the perfect storm, setting ideal conditions for mass destruction. Undeniably, the pressing climate emergency has played a significant role, namely in this case, the ‘El Niño’ phenomenon. This climate pattern affects the movement of warm water and wind across the Pacific Ocean, increasing global temperatures, leading to floods in countries like Peru and extreme droughts in areas such as Indonesia, India, and parts of Brazil.
This natural phenomenon has worsened dry spells, with the current drought categorized as the “most intense and widespread” in Brazilian history. At the end of October, 293 municipalities were suffering extremely dry conditions, a notable rise from 216 in September.
However, with some environmentalists arguing that 99 per cent of the fires are started intentionally, there is a more clandestine side to this ecological nightmare. Given the characteristic dampness of the Amazon, practices such as land grabbing have worsened the effects of droughts. Deforestation reached record levels under previous Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with “more than 3,980 square kilometers of the Amazon” destroyed in the first half of 2022. There are great economic incentives to clear the Amazon rainforests for industries like mining and logging. In Brazil there is specific demand for the land to be used for cattle ranching, due to the country being the world’s largest beef exporter. Increasing rates of deforestation coupled with other political decisions taken by the Bolsonaro government such as significant cuts to funding and international aid to fight climate change, as well as weakening environmental laws, and allowing destruction of the rainforest for economic activity.
Although this practice is being slowly reversed under the new leadership of current President Lula– with deforestation dropping 62 per cent in 2023 – the continuation of the process is causing a loss of resilience. This refers to the rainforests ability to recover from damaging events. The more the Amazon’s resilience is weakened, the greater the risk of dieback, which would have “profound implications for biodiversity, carbon storage and climate change at a global scale”.
Unsurprisingly, the surge in fires in the Amazon has had profound environmental and social consequences. With around 350 known Indigenous groups living and relying on the rainforest, as well as many undiscovered communities, these groups have been gravely impacted. Many of the affected areas have been within Indigenous lands, with fires on protected territories increasing by 39 per cent in the last year in Brazil, “accounting for 24% of all the Brazilian Amazon blazes this year”, while Peru’s indigenous people have suffered blazes in more than eighty seven territories. Similarly in Bolivia, nearly all of their indigenous lands inside affected zones of the country have been hit.
Due to their proximity to wildfires, the health of Indigenous populations has been put at risk, with studies explaining how “[r]egions in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil are identified as particular hotspots for smoke exposure, with mortality rates rising to as high as six times that of the general population”. In response to this great threat, many indigenous groups have taken matters into their own hands, coordinating indigenous fire brigades to attempt to extinguish wildfires and prevent further damage. They have taken advantage of modern technology “to use smart maps and apps to share their [knowledge] of the forest to protect it”, sharing their local understanding to improve their responses.
As well as the human cost of ferocious wildfires, the destruction of the Amazon has catastrophic environmental consequences. Providing habitat for around 10 per cent of the world’s species, the Amazon biome is a key ecosystem for the world’s animals and plants. However, the fires have greatly threatened this biodiversity, as the majority of fires in the last two years (73 per cent) have been concentrated in natural vegetation rather than already compromised zones. Thus, between 93 and 95 per cent of species have witnessed some kind of negative consequences due to the fires, with some having more than 60 per cent of their habitat destroyed by blazes over the last twenty years.
All of this is contributing to the ongoing climate emergency. Historically operating as a net carbon sink, the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires has triggered great emissions. Between July and August 2024, the fires released 60 per cent more greenhouse gases being released than in the same period in 2023, equivalent to around 31.5 million tons of CO2. There are also often delayed emissions, with secondary fires of previously burned, weakened areas emitting more greenhouse gases than the first blazes. One day, the Amazon may pass a point of no return, not only having a disastrous impact on emissions but also water cycles, given that the Amazon’s trees provide twenty billion tons of water a day.
Public attention has now turned to the politicians in the Amazon Basin, with mounting pressure shaping political discourses. Lula returned to the Brazilian presidency in 2023 on a platform of protecting the Amazon and ending harmful practices in the rainforest. Thus, in the wake of criticisms over the Brazilian authorities not coordinating a timely and effective response to the fires, the government has increased budgets for environmental agencies, increased fines for starting fires in the forest, with a specific emphasis on attacks on Indigenous lands. However, some argue this has been insufficient, with agencies tasked with fighting the fires demanding more manpower and resources to make up for shortages. Also, concerns have been voiced by environmentalists over the president’s commitment to the continued construction of the BR-319 roadway through the rainforest. If Lula’s vow to end deforestation by 2030 and preserve the Amazon wavers, it could spell further trouble for the fate of this rainforest and the climate emergency.
Similarly, pressure has been mounting in Bolivia, in response to the fires and President Luis Arce’s perceived apathy to the crisis. By refusing to commit the country to net-zero deforestation by 2030, accelerating deforestation and allowing development and industry on indigenous lands, Arce’s administration has not made great progress in terms of environmental policy. However, by the end of September, Arce finally declared the situation a ‘national catastrophe’, and “suspended all burning authorizations and has also prohibited the issuance of new concessions”. Also, a state of emergency was declared in Peru, after criticisms were waged against the government for failing to support efforts to extinguish the fires, and President Dina Boluarte was stopped from travelling to the UN General Assembly by Congress. Despite many perceiving governmental responses as insufficient, public pressure has clearly shaped policy responses and political discourse regarding the fires.
One thing is for certain, the Amazon is burning at an alarming rate. However, if this continues, the Amazon will not be the only thing at stake. The destruction of such an important ecosystem would have irreversible impacts across the globe, for people, the climate, and the survival of humankind. Politicians in the Amazon countries are beginning to commit themselves to further measures to stop this from happening, but change cannot come soon enough. Will it be enough to save the lungs of the earth?
