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The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

bbc.com

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Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#21

Post by fwsgonzo »

vfc1 wrote: post #17

When the Amazon turns into a savannah well into our lifetime, we will see how this stuff looks like historically. I suspect though that the attention that the press is giving to this year's fires, which are catastrophic and need attention, has something to do with the fact that Brasil is about to sign a historic trade agreement with the EU and this is being used to politically pressure Brasil into stopping the increa…

The "manipulation" to stop destroying the planet? To me its all about the accelerated logging in the amazon basin that we know is fatal.

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#22

Post by hannob »

This article completely fails to mention a very important issue: Scientists are worried that the amazon may approach a tipping point after which the ecosystem will completely collapse.

The guardian has a better take on the story: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/amazon-f...

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#23

Post by meerita »

All I have seen these days in the press is to blame Bolsonaro, of some fires that occur, every year, for decades on an area of 5,500,000 km2 and you will tell me how a person can monitor so much surface, which is not even People can travel. Presidents of other countries that I am not going to mention have campaigned against Bolsonaro using old photos. It is unfortunate the political use that is being given to this, added to the contribution that the press is making to the levels of hysteria of the people, does not help at all.

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#24

Post by aaron695 »

We see things like this and people still rabid on about global warming.

How hard is it to understand we own this plant, it's destruction (and repair) is done by hand, not some mythical gas that might cause some damage in 100 years time when we are all in flying cars.

I guess blaming CO2 us an easy out for most people.

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#25

Post by brabel »

deepnet wrote: post #5

The Amazon Rainforest Tipping Point is 20-25% deforestation total. We are at 20% deforestation now. https://phys.org/news/2018-03-amazon-deforestation.html The forest fires stem from previous deforestation, so destruction is cumulative, exponential. Past the tipping point the rainforest dies. To quote the Expanse, this is the cascade, (and we are nearing the point where) this station is already dead.

> The forest fires stem from previous deforestation, so destruction is cumulative, exponential.

That's just wrong. The fires can actually make the forest stronger next year[1]. This is part of the cycle of nature. Have you been to the Amazon? Pretty much every inch of it has burned in the past, but after a year or so, you could barely tell, as in the wet season, the plants grow a lot faster than most people who are not from the region can even imagine.

[1] http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001...

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#26

Post by thewhitetulip »

kebman wrote: post #12

There is also a big forest fire in Siberia, but I can't remember seeing anything on it in the Norwegian press. There are some stories about the Amazon fire, though. Perhaps the one in Siberia is less dangerous? I don't know! Why is the Amazon fire worse? Or can you compare them at all?

Amazon is the source for 20% oxygen. Brasil's president thinks climate change is a myth (just like every conservative head of state these days)

It's scary how much he could damage the world by flattening the Amazon

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#27

Post by cameronbrown »

lxhmj wrote: post #18
makomk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even this article isn't great, though it's obviously better than the hoaxes on social media. For instance, they start off the article with the claim that Brazil has seen a record number of forest fires in 2019 and a scary-looking graph of them increasing from 2013. They then follow up with a repetition of activists' claims that right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro is to blame. You have to scroll down several pages to…

It's the BBC... what do you expect, quality?

Not really, they've had a slow and steady decline into becoming a tabloid over the past decade. That doesn't mean we can't hold a state broadcaster to a higher standard than others.

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#28

Post by guilhas »

It is very bad because the current president policy is to sell and deforest for farms or cattle, without any worry of the ecosystem or native people of the area. Which should be preserve and protect.

In terms of the area affected by fire, more burned in Portugal in 2018, which is a very small compared with Amazon size.

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#29

Post by fwsgonzo »

meerita wrote: post #23

All I have seen these days in the press is to blame Bolsonaro, of some fires that occur, every year, for decades on an area of 5,500,000 km2 and you will tell me how a person can monitor so much surface, which is not even People can travel. Presidents of other countries that I am not going to mention have campaigned against Bolsonaro using old photos. It is unfortunate the political use that is being given to this, a…

Bolsonaro is a dangerous far-right buffoon who is accelerating logging in the amazon basin. If you want to talk about politics then why was his direct opponent put in jail during the election?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics/brazils-b...

He is basically the encyclopaedia image of corruption.

Re: The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it?

#30

Post by Spoppys »

I'm seeing a lot of apparently conflicting information about these Amazon fires. I've seen sources saying its about average, and I've seen sources saying it's the worst since 2010.

Are they in disagreement, or are they measuring different things, so aren't disagreeing? Or is something else going on? I'm kinda lost

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