Tragedy of mammoth proportions

We in India are so caught up on the news of politics that we have given just a perfunctory look at the fire raging in the Amazon rainforests.

The fire there is a devastating to say the least but the most terrifying aspect of this is that this huge fire could have been set up by people in an attempt to clear land for cattle ranching.

Those in the know that cattle ranching is responsible for as much as 80% of the deforestation happening in the Amazon rainforest. And this cattle ranching is for supply of global beef.

These are not wildfires, but rather fires set by people seeking to create cattle ranches, intentionally ignited during the dry season each year.

What is shocking is that Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has expressed lack of interest consistently for preserving the rainforest. And it is his vocal support for industrial growth which has reportedly encouraged ranchers and other developers to move more brazenly into undeveloped forest land.

Over the last half century, a total area larger than the state of Texas has been lost to deforestation. 

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, making its protection critical to preventing runaway climate change. And indeed this is a tragedy of mammoth proportions.