The Amazonian forest fires: how you can help save “the lungs of our world”
‘The Amazon Rainforest, one of the wettest places on Earth, is on fire. Siberia, one of the coldest places on Earth, is on fire.
That aint normal.
Climate change is real and our planet is burning up. Humans are the cause of this deadly fever.
#PrayforAmazonia
– @eugenegu on Twitter
Picture a rich, green rainforest, where birds fly free and monkeys swing happily from one thick branch to the next; a place with such dense flora that it is has become known as ‘the lungs of our world’, due to singlehandedly producing 20% of the world’s oxygen. A place where there are waterfalls by the hundreds in which otters and manatees swim and splash around, and which is home to 10 million other animal species.
Now picture this place on fire – burnt to a crisp.
The place I have just described has been burning wildly for the past 17 days. 17 days of destruction, of fire. São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city which is 1,700 miles away from Amazonian forest, went pitch black at 3 pm on Monday due to the amount of smoke in the air. Imagine the amount of smoke that would be needed to travel that far and turn the air black in broad daylight. Animals, trees and this incredible ‘lung’ Mother Earth gave the world is burning up, turning to ash. The Amazon River holds about one fifth of the world’s fresh water. If the basin of this river disappears, this water flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
And what caused all of this? Well, the Amazon rainforest has been pretty much fire-resistant for most of its history because of its natural humidity. However, NASA, which has captured pictures of the Amazonian fires from outer space, has announced that drought and human activities are what are causing the wildfires. Human activities. This is something we caused – self-sabotage at its finest. This is something we must, at the very least, try to solve.
The consequences of these fires, which are still going on, are catastrophic. There is not an endless supply of oxygen or of fresh water on this Earth, so we must do what we can to preserve the places that provide these essential things. The chase for money that leads to abuse of resources and overuse of land will mean nothing if there is no oxygen left to breathe. Climate change and wildfires like these are a life or death situation in the long run, and must start being treated as so.
We at Chic Every Weather are carrying out a campaign with Amazon Watch to help raise money and awareness for these issues. By checking out the app Chic Every Weather, there are links to where you can donate on their website. However, here are some other things you can do to help
1. Donate at Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch, amongst other projects, resists the destruction of the Amazon by challenging disastrous development projects and natural resource extraction and by promoting indigenous rights. The link to donate to their project is here: https://amazonwatch.org/donate
2. Sponsor an acre at Rainforest Concern
The Amazon is made up of 1.7 billion acres. By sponsoring an acre, you can help support the groups who undertake invaluable work to conserve the ecosystems each one of the acres supports as well as the health of the planet as a whole. The link to donate is here:
3. Donate at Conservation International
Conservation International aims to achieve zero net deforestation in Amazonia by 2020 to protect essential resources, mitigate climate change and increase prosperity for people. You can help support this project by donating at: https://secure2.convio.net/cintl/site/Donation2?df_id=16164&16164.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&_ga=2.3125488.1732477216.1566400389-142094196.1566400389
Alternatively, protect an acre at:
https://secure2.convio.net/cintl/site/Donation2?df_id=15843&15843.donation=form1~
4. Pledge Solidarity with Brazil’s Resistance
The election of Bolsonaro as Brazil’s president has triggered a crisis for the Amazon rainforest and our global climate. Brazil’s human rights and environmental community will not back down in the face of this emergency, and neither can we. Here’s where you can pledge: https://amazonwatch.org/take-action/pledge-solidarity-with-brazils-resistance
5. Fight climate change
You can also read about ways to fight climate change in this brilliant article: https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/top-10-ways-can-stop-climate-change/
‘I don’t want your hope. I want you to act as if your house is on fire. Because it is.’
– Greta Thunberg
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About The Author
Abigail Blades
Abby is an American-Portuguese 19-year old currently studying philosophy and psychology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She enjoys writing, reading, playing the ukulele and doing tarot. In the future, she would love to write descriptions of candles or perfumes or, alternatively, run her own music/art/drama therapy clinic-beach house.
