Indigenous Woman Says the Amazon Is Deliberately Being Set on Fire

Not only is it known for being visually incredible, but the area supports some of the widest varieties of wildlife on Earth. Plus, the sheer amount of carbon dioxide inhaling plants there means that it helps to clean the air for the entire planet.

Large areas of the beautiful natural area have been destroyed for human gain, either for the building of roads, the farming of cattle, or simply to make more space for towns and cities.

For many days at this point, the Amazon Rainforest has been rampaged by an enormous and terrifying forest fire. As of yet, the causes are unknown – but it’s frightening that such a humid area has managed to burn for quite so long.

But now people on the internet are taking matters into their own hands, trying to spread the news of the destruction before it’s too late.

And many truly horrifying images have been shared online. There are now fears that we may end up losing all, or most of, the absolutely enormous forest.

We lose another huge area of the Amazon. And once it’s gone, the forest as we know it will never come back. This means that there should be a real sense of urgency.

Because, as the blaze rages on, the effects that the huge fire is having across the entire continent are becoming clear.

Many Twitter users are sharing shots that they’ve taken in the city of Sao Paolo. The sheer amount of ash in the sky is essentially blocking out the sunlight.

The fact that the fire has released this much smoke into the atmosphere is worrying enough – even when you don’t consider the destruction of those millions of all-important trees.

Many now believe that Sao Paolo and other major cities in Brazil and South America are essentially uninhabitable. We can’t imagine that breathing in that dark, smoky air is in any way healthy.

One Sao Paolo resident decided to test the theory, taking a clear plastic water bottle outside to collect some of the air. This black gas is what the people of the city are expected to breathe in.

Including this one, with the caption: “This is the color of the rainwater that fell here in Mauá.”

“Folks … did you see that it rained black water ?? Seriously no kidding! So the sky was very strange … gospel.”

Many assume that Sao Paolo is close to the Amazon Rainforest – but this isn’t really the case. The sheer distance that this disaster has covered should be alarming us.

These pictures show the sheer volume of smoke that’s been released into the atmosphere – along with the great distances that it has spread to and covered.

The fact that it’s a rainforest gives us a clue as to how much humidity and moisture it contained. The fact that it’s burning up like kindling is truly shocking.

One huge attributing factor to this fire’s power is the number of droughts that the area has experienced over the years. On top of this, Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has ignored pleas to take better care of the region.

The Amazon Rainforest contains some of the largest animal diversity on Earth – so alongside the loss of trees and plants, millions of animals are being burned alive.

It took literally millions of years for the Amazon to evolve into the naturally biodiverse area that it is – and it’s gone from that to a complete wasteland in a matter of days.

But as our planet falls apart and the powers that be continue to ignore it, it starts to feel more and more hopeless. Massive systemic change needs to happen – and soon – if we want life on Earth to continue.  

Since he came to power, the extremely right-wing President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has voiced some pretty worrying opinions about the environment.

And some of his campaign promises revolved around making Brazil more economically powerful. The problem is that he appears not to care about the other costs of making money.

Many cattle ranchers are keen to purchase large areas of rainforest land in order to raise cows for meat. The problem is, once the rainforest is gone, it will never grow back.

And many are suspicious that, rather than any sort of accidental forest fire, the blazes raging in the Amazon right now are a deliberate act of deforestation for profit.

The idea that someone would prioritize money over life on Earth seems hard to comprehend. But it also means action by the rest of the world is all the more urgent.

If these fires are deliberate, then someone (or a group of people) are responsible. It’s reprehensible that there’s not been any sort of investigation thus far.

The destruction of the Amazon is something that will have an adverse effect globally. Some have even proposed it to be something of an early indicator of the apocalypse. Cheery stuff, we know.

In a video posted to Twitter, she proclaims: “For 2 years we’ve fought to preserve [our reservation] and these assholes came in and burned it down. They are killing our rivers, our sources of life, and now they have set our reserve on fire. Tomorrow we are closing the roads and I want all the media here to see this.”

Well, if there’s anything, it’s the way that the world is slowly coming together in order to put an end to this horror. We can spread the word about what’s happening in the Amazon Rainforest right now, but, other than that, it’s hard not to feel a little helpless. But we’ve compiled a list of fifty very little things that you can do to help to save the Earth – keep reading for some inspiration. Every little helps!