The World’s Largest Tropical Wetland has Become an Inferno

David Fan
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/13/climate/pantanal-brazil-fires.html
The Pantanal Wetlands, located mostly in Brazil, has suffered from severe
wildfires recently, burning down and destroying almost a quarter of the wetlands. The
Pantanal Wetlands bring countless benefits and stretches over Brazil, Paraguay, and
Bolivia, larger than the country of Greece. It includes “swamps, lagoons, and tributaries”
that “purify water and help prevent floods and droughts” (Einhorn). The wetlands, being
one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, are also home to exceptionally high
amounts of wildlife, including many endangered species, many of which have been
harmed in the fires of the past months. 2020, by far, has seen the most wildfires in
history, with over 11,000 cumulative fire detections, with twenty-two percent of the
Pantanal Wetlands wiped out by the end of the year.
The value of wetlands can never be underestimated, as they provide so many
functions such as flood protection, water purification, and act as fisheries and habitats for
many species. All this and more are reason for the preservation of wetlands, especially
the Pantanal Wetlands, which also happens to be the largest wetland in the world and
supports millions of people in South America. So a 22 loss of the largest wetland in the
world is bound to have major consequences. As mentioned in Unit 3, Integrated Drainage
Basin Management- Wetlands, the value of wetlands was emphasized with many more
important functions, attributes, and products than previously mentioned. In the section on
the Loss and Degradation of Wetlands, many factors were listed, and the recent
widespread wildfire in Pantanal would probably fall under natural causes, although the
severity of the fires have led Brazilian police to believe that some were intentionally and
illegally set in order to seize and make way for infrastructure development. As shown in a
graph in the article, forests throughout the year have seen a 24% decrease while
agriculture has seen a 259% since 1985. The burning down of the Pantanal wetlands have
definitely seen negative impacts on local wildlife and biodiversity, with wild boars,
jaguars, deer, birds, primates, and more all injured, not to mention the thousands of acres
scorched to the ground. Also, unlike forest fires in elsewhere, the fires in the Pantanal
burned underground as well, killing small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, whereas
otherwise they would have survived by taking refuge underground. According to models,
climate change and the fires have impaired the wetland’s ability to regulate the
continent’s water and carbon. Contrary to its counterparts, forest fires in Australia and
California, most of the damage to the wetlands in South America has sadly gone
unnoticed around the world.