Mawara Tahir
Mother Nature plays a vital role in the survival of Earth. The lungs of the Earth give Mother Nature life to sustain itself and sustain the life that it inhabits. The Amazon Rainforest being the largest eco-system and the most beautiful place on Earth, is an entity that contributes the most to the sustainability of the Earth. The number of species of vegetation and animals, in the Amazon are vast and innumerable. The news from the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, however, paint a dark and gloomy picture. The Amazon flames that burn furiously have spread so far and wide; it is unfathomable. Brazil has declared a state of emergency in the region.
Humanity is failing, as a large part of it has already burnt and is still on fire. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Amazon covers 6.7 million square kilometers (2.5 million square miles) and is one of the world’s most bio-diverse areas. The Amazon rainforest is twice as large as the country of India. Amazonia is the largest river basin in the world, and its forest stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the tree line of the Andes in the west. The forest widens from a 200-mile (320-km) front along the Atlantic to a belt 1,200 miles (1,900 km) wide where the lowlands meet the Andean foothills. The immense extent and great continuity of this rainforest is a reflection on the high rainfall, high humidity, and monotonously high temperatures that prevail in the region.
The Amazon Rainforest is the world’s richest and most-varied biological reservoir, containing several million species of insects, plants, birds, and other forms of life, many yet to be discovered by science. The luxuriant vegetation encompasses a wide variety of trees, including many species of myrtle, laurel, palm, and acacia, as well as rosewood, Brazil nut, and rubber tree. Excellent timber is furnished by the mahogany and the Amazonian cedar. Major wildlife includes jaguar, manatee, tapir, red deer, capybara and many other types of rodents, and several types of monkeys etc. as heart-wrenching as it is, this asset is on fire.
The smoke is visible from space. European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano captured images of the smoke from the International Space Station. Parmitano said “the haze is so widespread; it resembles clouds in some of the photos”. The horrific flames seem to have triggered a doomsday scenario for the world’s largest rainforest.
The tropical trees, the flora and fauna; everything is turning to ash, releasing up to 140 billion tons of stored carbon into the atmosphere and causing an uptick in already rising global temperatures. The catastrophic situation has left the world devastated as there could be grave and threatening consequences if the circumstances deteriorated.
In the month of July, the Amazon lost 519 square miles (1,345 square kilometers) of rainforest. That’s an area more than twice the size of Tokyo. Data from Brazilian satellites indicated that about three football fields’ worth of Amazonian trees are falling every minute. As the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon plays a crucial role in keeping our planet’s carbon-dioxide levels in check. It is also the reason the Amazon’s health is so important in the face of climate change. The fire would also cause up to 140 billion tons of stored carbon to be released into the atmosphere, causing an uptick in global temperatures.
In this critical time, politicians, countries, humans are in a dire need to unite and stop this disaster from spreading any further or it can be potentially be apocalyptic for the world.
Even celebrities are using their influence over social media to spread awareness, and call upon volunteers to aid in eradication of the issue. Weeks after the fire broke out, the world had no clue about Mother Nature being burnt to the surface. In addition, actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio added a donation link to Amazon on his Instagram profile and posted about the fires. Celebrities like Jameela Jamil, Jaden Smith, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Ariana Grande, and John Cusack have also taken to social media to speak out about the fiery devastation.
The patchy rain expected through Sept. 10 brought minor relief but not enough help to extinguish the fire. The rain forecast for the next two weeks is reportedly set to fall in the areas that need it the least.
Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, mobilized the Brazilian army to combat the flames; Bolivian President Evo Morales contracted a Boeing 747 “Supertanker” last week to help extinguish the fires. The Supertanker is capable of flying with 115,000 liters (over 30,000 gallons) and was expected to be operational on Friday.
The leaders of the countries worldwide are now coming forward to offer aid and help to save the wildlife. We hope and pray that they will succeed in this combat against fiery inferno fires and it ceases as soon as possible.
