The ongoing fires raging across the Brazilian rain forest are having unwanted effects everywhere. Climatologists in South Africa allege they are behind the recent devastating Cape Town drought. With opposition heating up over amazon fires everywhere, Brazil’s environment minister Ricardo Salles was clearly on the ropes at a conference in Salvador.
Ricardo Salles Feels the Fire of Opposition Heating Up
Mr Salles may have been unwise to attend Latin American and Caribbean Climate Week in Salvador. Protesters booed and shouted as he took the stage. A few people may have politely clapped, but with opposition heating up over amazon fires, only a few noticed.
He therefore cut a lonely figure as he tried to deny his president Jair Bolsonaro was fueling the problem. All he said was someone was investigating the fires and Brazil did not have the resources to fight them. Meanwhile Jair Bolsonaro has retracted his allegation that NGO’s lit the fires in protest against reduced funding. For their part, the protesters claim he is encouraging loggers and farmers to continue.
Why This Spat Ought to Concern Us All
The rise in global right-wing nationalism is putting international climate accords at risk. If large countries opt out, the center will not hold and we could be back to square one. This is no time for political joking. We are as serious as can be.
However, we can’t say for a moment that opposition heating up will solve the problem. We do know that summer wildfires start more readily on recently cleared land. However, somebody has to strike a match. Lightning cannot cause an 85% increase in fires compared to last year.
We are in a watershed situation as Earth’s lung, the Brazil rain forest shrinks by the size of a football pitch every minute. Losing this vital carbon store will make it more difficult to halt, let alone reverse climate change. The international community must act.
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