Forest Fires in The Amazon Rainforests

The rapidly changing climate has led to a rise in global temperatures worldwide.

The change in climate can be attributed with doubt to human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

However, there are a few bulwarks before runaway climate change.

One of the main bulwarks against climate change are the rainforests of Amazon. However, these forests too are facing an unprecedented survival crisis.

What has happened?

• The Amazons are the world’s largest rainforests are aptly known as the lungs of the world. They are a shield against the runaway climate change but are increasing being ravaged by human activities like deforestation and several thousand forest fires.
• In the current year, the instances of wildfires have increased by 83% when compared to the forest fires in the last year.
• The official Brazilian government data states that a total of 72,843 forest fires have been recorded this year which is the highest number since 2013.
• In what should be a significant concern, over 9,500 have been picked up within a week itself.
• News agencies have observed plumes of smoke which were blowing out of the forest and was a height of hundreds of feet.

What causes forest fires?

• Forest fires occur in the underbrush of the trees which dry over the hot summer season. This rise in the heat of the area causes the forest fires to develop into huge pillars of smoke which then envelope the still lush patches of trees, blackening them even before their undergrowth is overtaken by the forest fire.
• While most causes of forest fires have a natural origin, in a few cases, the environmentalists have also found out that the farmers set the forest land ablaze to clear the land for grazing cattle and for agricultural purposes.