In this new segment, we will review the climate crisis, of global impact that crosses the vast extensions of the Amazon forest, as a result of the devastating fires, which during the Covid-19 pandemic threatened the largest source of oxygen and biodiversity on planet earth.
Fig. 2 The constant fires that swept through the Amazon rainforest during the pandemic further threatened the largest source of oxygen and biodiversity on planet earth. Image of public domain, Author: Terski, 2020
According to information disclosed in recent days in multiple web portals, 2020 represented the worst black year for the vast extensions of the Amazon Forest, where, as in the previous year, forest fires broke out, mainly in a large part of the Brazilian territory. It is worth noting that in the middle of the year thousands of hectares were devastated, turning this vegetable ecosystem into ashes, considered literally as the lung of our planet earth, in this sense, according to the National Institute for Space Research, which monitors deforestation and forest fires in this Amazon country, reported that between 2019 and 2020 there has been a record number of fires in Brazil, equivalent to an increase of over 80% over previous years.
It is relevant to mention that even though forest fires are generated as consequences of long periods of drought, it is no less true that the accelerated deforestation they carry out in the Amazon territory is in essence the real cause of these disproportionate fires, which without a doubt, will produce a global climate crisis, this because, the large extensions of tropical forest located in the Amazon represent an essential carbon sink, which absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, in other words they represent the VEGETAL LUNG of the planet earth.
Fig. 3 The Amazon Rainforest represents the Vegetal lung of the planet earth. Image of public domain, Author: Cdj, 2017
Faced with this devastating situation of great ecological impact, I take the opportunity provided by the platform and in particular the community @Project.HOPE, to make a call for reflection and immediate action, to all those concerned, to prevent the destruction of the Amazon Forest.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES CONSULTED:
[1] APF / Montevideo. El 2020, otro año negro para el medio ambiente en Latinoamérica. 2020 Article: Online access
[2] Bowman K. Historic Amazon rainforest fires threaten climate and raise risk of new diseases. Academic Rigor, Journalistic Flair. 2020 Article: Online access