Amazon Is Burning

[spathiphyllum]

It's taken a while to report on it. I think this report came out because of how social media shared the fact that the amazon rainforest is burnign and has been for a number of days, yet no one has reported on it.

Yet when a pointless building that has no benefit to life on this earth was burning, all hands were on deck to give money, support and attention to notre dam.

The worlds priorities are messed up.

The smoke can be seen from space.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-49415973

[jim360]

I don't think there's a need to invoke media cover-ups. Forest fires are at least partly a natural occurrence, so the fact that some of the Amazon was on fire was not in itself a reason to report on it. What is unusual is the scale of the fires, and by definition that takes a while to ascertain.

Also the link to Notre Dame is just stupid. It was in the middle of a huge city: hundreds and thousands of people will have seen it instantly.

[spathiphyllum]

an 84% increase from last year is not OK.

[mushroom25]

nothing we can do Spath. the Brazilians knowingly and democratically elected Jair Bolsonaro to be their president, notwithstanding his known views on environmentalism and his attitude to the outside world's views of his agribusiness policy:-

"the Amazon belongs to Brazil and European countries can mind their own business because they have already destroyed their own environment. No country in the world has the moral right to talk about the Amazon...."

[spathiphyllum]

Where is that quote from?

What a stooopid quote.

I have every right to talk about my oxygen supply and the forest that slows down things like global warming and climate change,

[jim360]

No, it is not -- and the possibility that it's related to recent Brazilian government policy is particularly troubling. I'm angry at the short-sightedness of Bolsonaro's policies on the Amazon: exploit now, ruin now, pay for it later when the present generation have moved on. And he's cynically blaming everybody else but him and his regime.

What I am annoyed about too, though, is the constant need for everyone to invoke a media conspiracy whenever a story takes slightly slower to break than you'd like. If anything I'd be more troubled if stories broke in the mainstream media *before* they made smaller outlets or social media.

[dannyk13]

It was on the ITV news last night who had a reporter in a helicopter over the Brazilian rain forest. There were vast swathes of treeless areas that had been deliberately set on fire for industrial development.
Complaints have been made to the Brazilian President but to no avail.

[spathiphyllum]

If it's deliberate or not the media failed to report this.

[dannyk13]

Spath. ^^^

[spathiphyllum]

I heard about the rain forest on twitter nearly a week ago. The attention that got and spread through social media moaning at main stream media for not reporting on it was wild. Now they decide to report on it.

[mushroom25]

go ahead talk Spath - but what can you do? the EU and various European leaders have made noises, like threatening Brazil with all sorts of retribution - but when it came down to it, the Mercosur agreement turned out to be more important than environment, and they wound their necks in.

https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/eu-mercosur-association-agreement/index_en.htm

[jim360]

Social media pressure. It's interesting to note that NASA has suggested that the overall scale of fires on the Amazon is below average. Only in Brazil is the scale greater.

[teacake44]

I'm afraid unless trouble is on ones back door, people ignore, of course at their peril, and when its to late to act.

[spathiphyllum]

People go and cause illegal fires and then cultivate the land that was burned for farm use. This trend has obviously become more trendy.

[Prudie]

To describe Notre Dame as a pointless building with no benefit is as arrogant and stupid as the Brazilians saying the rainforest is nothing to with us(Europe). The French don't feel that way about Notre Dame for starters.

As for what's going on the Amazon it is tragic but geographical location makes it very hard to get there and protest or help - unlike something going on in the middle of Paris.

[beso]

//The smoke can be seen from space. //

These statements amuse me. It is like space is so far away the smoke cloud must be huge!

Space is conventionally considered to start at an altitude of 100 km. It isn't that hard to see smoke from a fire 100 km away on the ground.

[spathiphyllum]

"o describe Notre Dame as a pointless building with no benefit is as arrogant and stupid as the Brazilians saying the rainforest is nothing to with us(Europe)."


You obviously have little idea how relevant the amazon is to the entire globe then, to the survival of the globe also...

Unlike a bloody church.

[Old_Geezer]

Amazon Is Burning ? Must be them there books.

I don't believe one can compare an accident destroying a created work of art with a natural disaster such as forest fires. Forests tend to recover from such things. The bigger issue is the deliberate clearing for profit (and then blaming consumers for buying what's on the shop shelves).

Oh and it is an unthinking quote. Europe was being cleared when we had no idea of the consequences. Now we're planting trees. Brazil can't claim not to know what they are doing, yet imply they should be allowed to carry on without comment, knowing it will cause global problems. A bit like saying, you shut up, you had slaves in the past so we're having them now to catch up.

[spathiphyllum]

"natural disaster"

If you see the news reports you'll find a lot of these forest fires were deliberate acts of arson with an agenda.

The fact these fires have increased by 87% isn't natural.

[Prudie]

I'm well aware of the importance of the amazon - why did you have to bring Notre Dame into it? Pointless and you are the clearly misinformed one if you think it's meaningless. You do not speak for the French.
You'd have got admiration and support for raising the issue of the fire - there was no requirement to diss something else to justify it.

[Old_Geezer]

Then they need to apprehend the culprits. The forest will recover from fire, as long as authorities ensure it's allowed to, or help it on it's way.