The Amazon rainforest is ablaze. Jair Bolsonaro is, ludicrously, blaming environmentalists
of the afternoon on August 19th South America’s largest city went dark. Under a thick, black cloud at 3pm, the lights flickered on in São Paulo’s skyscrapers; on the motorways brake lights started to glow in the city’s bumper-to-bumper traffic, and many Paulistanos were worried.
Meteorologists scrambled to explain what was going on. But the most likely explanation, most accept, is that fires burning far away in the rainforest are to blame. Climatempo, a popular private meteorology website, reported that a cold front brought low-lying clouds which then combined with smoke to form the thick black smog. According to the National Institute for Space Research , forest fires are more common than ever.
Mr Bolsonaro argues that he is fighting an “information war” over the Amazon; he says he wants foreign governments andreleased data showing increasing deforestation in July, the president claimed the numbers were fake. He then sacked the head of the agency, Ricardo Magnus Osório Galvão, a well-respected physicist.
Such belligerence outrages scientists and environmentalists. “Firing the director is an act of revenge against those who expose the truth,” says Marcio Astrini of Greenpeace, a pressure group. But the destruction of the rainforest tends to be out of sight, out of mind for a lot of Brazilians, most of whom live in large cities near the coast. The darkness brought deforestation to their doorsteps.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Fires Destroy Amazon Rain Forest, Blanketing Brazilian Cities in SmogVast fires, many of them set by loggers, are ravaging the Amazon at a rate not seen in years, sending plumes of smoke that darken skies over Brazilian cities at a time when there is international pushback against President Bolsonaro’s environmental policies.
Read more »
Climate scientist on impact of Amazon rain forest firesThe Earth's lungs - the Amazon rainforest - are on fire. Climate scientist Michael Mann says Brazil's climate skeptic president is blaming the record wildfires on NGO's instead of fighting the deforestation that fuels them.
Read more »
How to help the Amazon rain forest as Brazil's wildfires ravage the 'lungs of the Earth'There are certain steps you can take to help reduce your impact on the Amazon.
Read more »
Brazil's Bolsonaro says NGOs may be setting fire to Amazon forestBrazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday accused non-gover...
Read more »