The
Amazon rainforest is in a critical state of near-collapse with a record number
of fires in Brazil this year—twice as many as in 2018—as the Brazilian
government allows it to happen. The fires have been deliberately set to
deforest the Amazon and displace its indigenous populations to make way for
soybean and cattle farming and oil drilling, actions encouraged by Brazilian
president Jair Bolsonaro. The Amazon is known as the as the “lungs” of our Earth;
its oxygen is an essential, irreparable link that holds the global ecosystem
within balance. Scientists say that with another 5 percent burned, the Amazon
could reach the tipping point of ecosystem collapse.
Dramatic
and swift action needs to take place, and the United Nations has the
power to move on issues such as peace and security, climate change, sustainable
development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health
emergencies, gender equality, food production, and more. This situation checks
almost all boxes.
A global online petition at Change.org urges
the UN to:
1.
Send in immediate humanitarian support to all the indigenous and local
groups that have lost their homes and way of life.
2.
Coordinate a large-scale effort with Brazil and neighboring countries to fight
the fires in
the highest-risk areas, such as those affecting indigenous peoples, animals and
the most fragile ecosystems.
3.
Create economic sanctions on Brazil that would make the cutting,
selling and buying of timber and meat produced in the country illegal.
Natural Awakenings magazine will be
dedicating the coming year to covering the climate crisis and providing personal
choices that people can make to reduce their own carbon footprint.