Fire in the Amazon is not part of a natural cycle and was not common before people started to clear the forest. The solution is better environmental enforcement in Brazil to prevent deforestation and globally to prevent companies from buying wood from the Amazon.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems, like the future of our planet. And break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

This question comes from listener Jason Travers – and it’s a big one.. He says he’s concerned about the fires this summer in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. He wants to know, why did this happen and is it normal?

We had Dana Altoami and Molly Magid from our Possibly team look into this. Welcome, Dana and Molly!

Dana Altoami: Hi Megan!

Molly Magid: Hello!

Megan Hall: First, for people who don’t know, can you explain what happened in the Amazon this summer?

Dana Altoami: Well the fires started burning in June and continued to increase through September. 

Molly Magid: At the peak, the fires consumed more than 7,000 square miles of forest. 

Dana Altoami: That’s about the size of New Jersey!

Megan Hall: So why did this happen?

Dana Altoami: To answer that question, we talked to Leah Van Wey, a professor of Environment and Society at Brown. 

Molly Magid: She explained that in Brazil, the way the government thinks about the Amazon rainforest has shifted…

Leah Van Wey: The Amazon is viewed as this large repository of stuff that can be turned into economic benefit

Dana Altoami: She says that this change in attitude has led to looser environmental regulations.

Megan Hall: And how did that lead to the fires this summer? 

Molly Magid: Well, because of the reduced enforcement, it’s easier for people to get away with clearing the land for farming and ranching. They often do this by setting fires on purpose. 

Dana Altoami: And because so much of the moisture in the Amazon comes from water recycled through the trees, deforestation is making it drier.

Molly Magid: Which means the fires spread faster and get out of control. And that’s what happened this summer.  

Megan Hall: So, these fires in the Amazon are particularly extreme, but I’ve heard that fires are a natural part of the life cycle of a forest. Is that true? 

Molly Magid: For some forests, but not for the Amazon. Before people started clearing it for pastures and forestry, fire was not very common there. 

Megan Hall: Ok, so is there anything we can do about the fires?

Dana Altoami: Leah says, in this case, individual action won’t do much compared with changing policies and laws

Leah Van Wey: As a policy what we need to do is we need to work towards better environmental enforcement 

Megan Hall: What does she mean by better environmental enforcement?

Molly Magid: Well, there’s a need for enforcement in Brazil itself, to prevent this deforestation

Dana Altoami: But locally. we could prevent companies from buying wood from the Amazon and other tropical rainforests, so there’s less logging there. 

Molly Magid: For example, here in Providence, the new pedestrian bridge was actually built with Brazilian tropical hardwoods.  

Dana Altoami: A stricter policy on the types of wood we use for construction projects could have encouraged the city to try a different material. 

Megan Hall: Thanks for looking into this Dana and Molly!

For more information or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to our question page.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio. 

References

1.   See how much of the Amazon is burning, how it compares to other years https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/amazon-fires-cause-deforestation-graphic-map/

2.   $21.9 million later, pedestrian bridge opens in downtown Providence https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190809/219-million-later-pedestrian-bridge-opens-in-downtown-providence

3.     Amazon Destruction https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html

4.     MAAP #110: MAJOR FINDING – MANY BRAZILIAN AMAZON FIRES FOLLOW 2019 DEFORESTATION https://maaproject.org/2019/amazon-fires-deforestation/

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The post Why Did The Fires In The Amazon Happen This Summer, And Are They Normal? appeared first on Possibly.