ANALYSIS REALITY CHECKGET T YIMAGESX 2ews of fires in the Amazon rainforest spread
around the globe in August, as huge areas were
set alight to clear the land for machine farming.
The figures that emerged shocked the planet: there
had been nearly 50,000 fires in Brazil in the first
eight months of this year, up 84 per cent from the same
period in 2018. If this trend continues, the whole rainforest
ecosystem could be at risk.
The Amazon rainforest is not equipped to deal with fire.
Unlike other ecosystems, such as the African savannah,
where wildfires are common, the rainforest is too wet to
ever catch alight naturally. Any fire started there has been
ignited by human activity.
Not all fires in the Amazon are illegal, however. In some
states, land owners are able to apply for a licence to deforest
up to 20 per cent of their property, in order to clear areas
to build on, farm or mine. To do this, trees are felled and
laid out under the hot sunshine. After a number of weeks,
they are dry enough to burn. But this year, many states have
had a ‘fire ban’ to prevent this method of deforestation. The
Amazonas state in Brazil had such a ban, yet fires have
still been recorded there.
Dr Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert is an ecologist at the
University of Birmingham, studying the effects of climate
change on forests, particularly in Brazil, her home country.
Previously, her main concern was the increasing number
of widespread droughts, which kill millions of trees and
threaten the biodiversity of the rainforest.DESERT STORM
At the time of writing, Brazil’s National Institute for
Space Research (INPE) has recorded 197,386 fires in South
America so far this year. Half of these were in the Amazon
rainforest. Esquivel-Muelbert says fire is used as it clears the
land completely, flattening it to allow for the big machines
that will be used by farmers. “The forest recovers from a
drought after a few years, even though the types of trees
there might not be the same. Whereas fire is complete
destruction,” she says.
It’s a vicious cycle. As more trees die, the surrounding
areas become even hotter and drier. “At the moment, the
rainforest has this closed canopy that shades and protects“If deforestation increases, it could change the
climate in the rainforest to one that is less favourable
to tropical tree species”
LEFT A farmer walks
through burnt area of the
rainforest in Brazil
RIGHT An area of the Brazilian
Amazon that was decimated by
fires in August this yeartrees,” explains Esquivel-Muelbert. “Once you take that
away, it opens the canopy, and you have more space in the
rainforest and more of the hot, tropical sunlight pouring in.”
As the cycle continues, the state of the Amazon as a
rainforest could become threatened. Some have said that
we are nearing a ‘tipping point’, at which the rainforest
will irreversibly become a desert – a process that’s been
dubbed ‘desertification’ by some media. The reality is
closer to a ‘savannahfication’, says Esquivel-Muelbert. “If
this deforestation increases, it could change the climate in
the rainforest to one that is less favourable to the tropical
tree species, and more favourable to ones like those found
in a savannah,” says Esquivel-Muelbert. “At the tipping
point, the Amazon shifts to the state of a savannah. It’s a
point of no return.”
Not only would this be a huge loss of plant and animal
biodiversity, but a savannah is a less effective carbon sink
than the rainforest. The tipping point is a hypothesis,
explains Esquivel-Muelbert, but researchers have seen
indications that it could be happening. “We have seen a 2N
ANALYSIS REALITY CHECKGET T Y IMAGES X 2
ews of fires in the Amazon rainforest spread
around the globe in August, as huge areas were
set alight to clear the land for machine farming.
The figures that emerged shocked the planet: there
had been nearly 50,000 fires in Brazil in the first
eight months of this year, up 84 per cent from the same
period in 2018. If this trend continues, the whole rainforest
ecosystem could be at risk.
The Amazon rainforest is not equipped to deal with fire.
Unlike other ecosystems, such as the African savannah,
where wildfires are common, the rainforest is too wet to
ever catch alight naturally. Any fire started there has been
ignited by human activity.
Not all fires in the Amazon are illegal, however. In some
states, land owners are able to apply for a licence to deforest
up to 20 per cent of their property, in order to clear areas
to build on, farm or mine. To do this, trees are felled and
laid out under the hot sunshine. After a number of weeks,
they are dry enough to burn. But this year, many states have
had a ‘fire ban’ to prevent this method of deforestation. The
Amazonas state in Brazil had such a ban, yet fires have
still been recorded there.
Dr Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert is an ecologist at the
University of Birmingham, studying the effects of climate
change on forests, particularly in Brazil, her home country.
Previously, her main concern was the increasing number
of widespread droughts, which kill millions of trees and
threaten the biodiversity of the rainforest.DESERT STORM
At the time of writing, Brazil’s National Institute for
Space Research (INPE) has recorded 197,386 fires in South
America so far this year. Half of these were in the Amazon
rainforest. Esquivel-Muelbert says fire is used as it clears the
land completely, flattening it to allow for the big machines
that will be used by farmers. “The forest recovers from a
drought after a few years, even though the types of trees
there might not be the same. Whereas fire is complete
destruction,” she says.
It’s a vicious cycle. As more trees die, the surrounding
areas become even hotter and drier. “At the moment, the
rainforest has this closed canopy that shades and protects“If deforestation increases, it could change the
climate in the rainforest to one that is less favourable
to tropical tree species”
LEFTA farmer walks
through burnt area of the
rainforest in Brazil
RIGHTAn area of the Brazilian
Amazon that was decimated by
fires in August this yeartrees,” explains Esquivel-Muelbert. “Once you take that
away, it opens the canopy, and you have more space in the
rainforest and more of the hot, tropical sunlight pouring in.”
As the cycle continues, the state of the Amazon as a
rainforest could become threatened. Some have said that
we are nearing a ‘tipping point’, at which the rainforest
will irreversibly become a desert – a process that’s been
dubbed ‘desertification’ by some media. The reality is
closer to a ‘savannahfication’, says Esquivel-Muelbert. “If
this deforestation increases, it could change the climate in
the rainforest to one that is less favourable to the tropical
tree species, and more favourable to ones like those found
in a savannah,” says Esquivel-Muelbert. “At the tipping
point, the Amazon shifts to the state of a savannah. It’s a
point of no return.”
Not only would this be a huge loss of plant and animal
biodiversity, but a savannah is a less effective carbon sink
than the rainforest. The tipping point is a hypothesis,
explains Esquivel-Muelbert, but researchers have seen
indications that it could be happening. “We have seen a 2N