Amazon rainforest fire burning at 'record rate' as smoke blocks out sun in Brazil

[LazyLion]

Brazil's Amazon rainforest has seen a record number of fires this year, with the country's space agency reporting an 83% increase over the same period last year.

The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said its satellites have detected 72,843 forest fires in the country so far - with 9,507 spotted in the last week.

Most of the fires are in the Amazon basin, which is home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.

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Amazon rainforest fire burning at 'record rate' as smoke blocks sun in Brazil

The rainforest is home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Gordon_R]

Similar link just posted in an existing thread: https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/brazil-registers-huge-spike-in-amazon-deforestation.1035927/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49415973

Brazil's Amazon rainforest has seen a record number of fires this year, according to new data from the country's space research agency.

The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) said its satellite data showed an 83% increase on the same period in 2018.

It comes weeks after President Jair Bolsonaro sacked the head of the agency amid rows over its deforestation data.

 

[The Voice]

They need space to plant avocados.

 

[access]

They need space to plant avocados.

 

[Gordon_R]

Even by political standards this guy is a nutcase:

Later he appeared to suggest that non-governmental organisations had set fires, as revenge for his government slashing their funding. He presented no evidence and gave no names to support this theory, saying there were "no written records about the suspicions".

"So, there could be..., I'm not affirming it, criminal action by these 'NGOers' to call attention against my person, against the government of Brazil. This is the war that we are facing," he said in a Facebook Live on Wednesday.

 

[flippakitten]

Even by political standards this guy is a nutcase:

I haven't looked into details of this whole disaster but I saw a clip in passing about some reserve being set alight on purpose. Again though, I have no idea if that clip is new, old or if the subtitles are actually correct.

Fun Fact (Apparently): All the Oxygen produced in the Amazon is used up in the Amazon.

 

[The Voice]

I haven't looked into details of this whole disaster but I saw a clip in passing about some reserve being set alight on purpose. Again though, I have no idea if that clip is new, old or if the subtitles are actually correct.

Fun Fact (Apparently): All the Oxygen produced in the Amazon is used up in the Amazon.

Something like 80% of the world's oxygen comes from plankton. As long as we don't **** up the oceans, we're ok. Oh, wait...

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Something like 80% of the world's oxygen comes from plankton. As long as we don't **** up the oceans, we're ok. Oh, wait...

humanity is doomed to destroy the oceans, wreck the land and kill all the wildlife on Earth,
all these greenpeace and sea shepard are just delaying the inevitable.

 

[VooDooC]

humanity is doomed to destroy the oceans, wreck the land and kill all the wildlife on Earth,
all these greenpeace and sea shepard are just delaying the inevitable.

Still think humanity won't end by some big ass asteroid slamming into the earth, we will be our own undoing.

 

[konfab]

humanity is doomed to destroy the oceans, wreck the land and kill all the wildlife on Earth,
all these greenpeace and sea shepard are just delaying the inevitable.

Not really.
1) Technological progress has allowed us to use more concentrated energy sources like coal, and eventually nuclear. These sources use less land and such than anything else.
2) Technological progress also allows for more concentrated food production. Thus less land is needed for more food.
3) When you pull people out of dire poverty, they start to care about their environment. Thus public opinion for policies that make the world a nicer place to live in goes up.

The data for this is here:

A recent study from the University of Helsinki highlights that between 1990 and 2015, annual forest area grew in high and mid-income nations by 1.31 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively, while decreasing by 0.72 per cent in 22 low income countries.

The Kuznets curve not only applies to forest area, but also biodiversity. Ridley gives the example of three apex predators: wolves that live in developed countries of Europe and North America, tigers who mainly inhabit mid-income India, Russia and Bangladesh, and lions, which live in poor Sub-Saharan Africa. Following the Kuznets curve, wolf numbers are rapidly increasing, tiger numbers have been steady for the last 20 years (and have just began to increase), while lion numbers continue to fall.

To encourage reforestation and environmental protection, the answer is a simple one – adopt economic policies that encourage rapid development and urbanisation. As people grow rich and move to the cities, more money becomes available for environmental protection and more land can be returned to nature.

https://humanprogress.org/article.php?p=1295

 

[cyberghost47]

Stuff like this makes me wish an asteroid would just hit us already so that humans can **** off

 

[The Voice]

Not really.
1) Technological progress has allowed us to use more concentrated energy sources like coal, and eventually nuclear. These sources use less land and such than anything else.
2) Technological progress also allows for more concentrated food production. Thus less land is needed for more food.
3) When you pull people out of dire poverty, they start to care about their environment. Thus public opinion for policies that make the world a nicer place to live in goes up.

The data for this is here:

https://humanprogress.org/article.php?p=1295

There are also (surprisingly) more trees on earth than a hundred years go. Mainly because wood is no longer needed for cooking, heat and shelter. Also, thanks to technology and recycling, there has probably been a huge reduction in the production of paper.

Yes, we will still lose trees in certain parts of the world because of farming (mostly 3rd world countries - see Madagascar), and the "need" for things like palm oil, though. And, of course, fires in the Amazon...

 

[The Voice]

Stuff like this makes me wish an asteroid would just hit us already so that humans can **** off

Bit of a catch 22, that: we wouldn't be the only ones who'd die. Literally everything else would, too.

 

[access]

I haven't looked into details of this whole disaster but I saw a clip in passing about some reserve being set alight on purpose. Again though, I have no idea if that clip is new, old or if the subtitles are actually correct.

Fun Fact (Apparently): All the Oxygen produced in the Amazon is used up in the Amazon.

the recent fires in siberia where also set alight on purpose, one of the culprits couldnt handle the guilt and confessed on social media.

 

[Magnum]

Serves them right for not stocking my RAM. Burn Buggers.

 

[cyberghost47]

Bit of a catch 22, that: we wouldn't be the only ones who'd die. Literally everything else would, too.

That's fine, at this point life can start over. As long as humans are wiped out before we break the planet beyond repair.

Like only 20% or something of all species survived the impact that wiped out the Dinos (RIP).

Just another one of those please. That's all I'm asking for.

 

[konfab]

There are also (surprisingly) more trees on earth than a hundred years go. Mainly because wood is no longer needed for cooking, heat and shelter. Also, thanks to technology and recycling, there has probably been a huge reduction in the production of paper.

Yes, we will still lose trees in certain parts of the world because of farming (mostly 3rd world countries - see Madagascar), and the "need" for things like palm oil, though. And, of course, fires in the Amazon...

Fire can form part of the ecosystem though.

 

[konfab]

That's fine, at this point life can start over. As long as humans are wiped out before we break the planet beyond repair.

Why don't you start with yourself?

 

[cyberghost47]

Why don't you start with yourself?

Because that would leave people behind that wouldn't be stoked that I was gone... I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't imply that there aren't amazing humans on this planet that more than deserve the right to be alive.

I just feel like the survival of the earth as a whole is bigger than our human story.

 

[konfab]

Because that would leave people behind that wouldn't be stoked that I was gone... I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't imply that there aren't amazing humans on this planet that more than deserve the right to be alive.

I just feel like the survival of the earth as a whole is bigger than our human story.

Humans are part of the earth as well.

For example, we do not know how widespread sentient life is in the universe. For all we know, we could be the only planet with sentient life in the universe.