Topic: Amazon Rainforest, Wildfire, and Australian bushfires

About the Amazon Rain forest

• largest rain forest in the world
• spread across Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador,
Guyana, Venezuela, Suriname, french Guiana.
• Amazon basin - 6.7 million km2
• rain forest - 5.5 million km2
• Home to 30 million people
• 350 ethnic group
• 9 different National political systems
• 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories
• thousands of rivers including the powerful Amazon river
• Amazon is the 2nd largest river in the world
• Amazon river- 6,800 kms in length
• 390 Billion individual trees
• 16,000 plant species
• Also called as the, “lungs of the earth”
• 20% of oxygen is acquired from Amazon rainforest
• most specie rich forest containing millions of animal and plants
species
• The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species 2,200 fishes,
1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have
been scientifically classified in the region.
• Among the largest predatory creatures are the black caiman, jaguar,
cougar, and anaconda.
• In the river, electric eels can produce an electric shock that can stun
or kill, while piranha are known to bite and injure humans.
• poisonous species like poison dart frogs that secrete lipophilic
alkaloid toxins through their flesh. And Fer de lance vipers.
• There are also numerous parasites and disease vectors.
• Vampire bats dwell in the rainforest and can spread the rabies virus.
• some rarest of rare animals like hoatzin, scarlet macaws,
mygalmorphea, bullet ants, howler monkeys, brown throated- sloth,
emperor tamarin, blue poisoned dart frog, pipa pipa frogs, bald
ukauri, green anaconda, American Jaguar and black caiman are also
found here.
• major producer of rubber and timber
• agriculture of pineapple, maniac and sweet potato is practiced
majorly
• cash crops like coffee, cocoa and maize are produced in huge
quantity.
Top 10 Plant species in the rainforest:

➢ Giant water Lily- can grow up to 3 metres and can hold up to 60 pounds of
weight
➢ Rubber tree- used for rubber manufacturing
➢ Heliconia flower- also called as lobster claw, hummingbirds nest on this
plant
➢ Cacao- base of everyone's guilty pleasure chocolate
➢ Passion flower- most beautiful flowers often compared with orchid
➢ Bromeliad- produce fruit such as pineapple, leaves can hold up to 7 litres
of water
➢ Coffee plant- 30 feet tall, grow best under shades
➢ Monkey brush vines- a drags the iguanas
➢ Kapok tree- one of the largest trees in the jungle
➢ Orchids- bloom in every colour of the rainbow, most majestic flower in the
world.

Amazon Rainforest Wildfire:

• started in August 2019
• before 2019 occurred but not majorly
• 40,000 cases were reported in 2018 and 73,000 cases in 2019
• 84% more in 2019 than in 2018
• Reported by Brazils National Institute for space research (INPE)
• International attention was drawn to the situation by August 2019,
when NASA found INPE findings.
• As of August 29, 2019, INPE reported more than 80,000 fires across
Brazil, a 77% year to year increase.
• burned area 7 million hectares
• threat to indigenous tribes
• over emission of carbon components
• hazardous health issues

Causes of fire/deforestation :
(July-Oct) dry season

• natural fire due to dry season / climate change

• Human driven deforestation is used for agriculture, livestock and
mining and for its lumber.
• Slash and burn techniques
• Workers performing the burn are unskilled and may knowingly
allow this files to spread.
 • Fires in the Amazon cannot come from warm weather alone, but it
is capable of worsening the fire.
• As there will be dryer biomass available for the fire to spread.
• cattle ranching - one of the biggest industries in Brazil

Government actions

• Brazil’s president- Jair Bolsonaro

• Deforestation has been increased by 52.9% in the first three years of
Bolsonaro’s administration
• In August, president, Jair Bolsonaro’s response was that the media
and the foreign governments are presenting a false narrative about
the Amazon.
• allegations - deliberately done by the govt to increase the economy
• No action for very long time international call were rejected
• After, increased pressure at G7 summit and a threat to reject the
pending European union-mercosur ( south common market ) free
trade agreement
• Bolsonaro sent 44,000 Brazilian troops
• allocated the funds to fight the fire
• Bolivian president evo Morales was also blamed
• area burned in Bolivia was equal to the area burned in Brazil
• Bolivia is 1/8 of Brazil
• negotiations with other countries for 22 million USD for emergency
aid for Amazonian countries.

Economic changes due to fire

• the Amazon holds massive amounts of resources contributing over $8 million to

the annual Brazilian GDP.
• annual loss of 422 million £ to agriculture
• the destruction due to the drought delays, the shipment of raw materials, goods
and products.
• natural rubber industries
• timber industry
• coffee production was reduced which caused the rise in stocks of coffee
companies
• Reduction in the production of pineapple, tapioca, sweet potato
• maize and cocoa are also the cash crops grown
Ecological changes due to the fire

• excess of carbon components due to the fire

• contamination of water resources
• environmental damage
• ecological imbalance
• wildlife loss
• reduction in the natural resources

_____________________________________________

Australian bush fires

About the fire (2019 - 2020)
• fires in Australia are common
• natural fire pattern
• fire season peaks in late January and February
• controlled burning is promoted
• bushfires are part of ecosystems
• prescribed burning programs
• it tends to occur when eucalypt forests have dried out.

What factors create a favourable environment for bushfires:

➢ Fuel load- amount of fallen bark leaf litter and small branches
➢ Fuel moisture- dry fuel will burn quickly then wet fuel.
➢ Wind speed- increase in wind speed increases fire behaviour and
advancement
➢ Ambient temperature- the higher the temperature the more likely fire will
start
➢ Relative humidity- dry promotes a greater intensity fire than moist air.
plants become more flammable
➢ Slope angle- topography plays a very important role in this uphill fire will
accelerate then downhill
➢ Ignition source- human activities or natural source.

History of bushfires
Before European settlement
• according to ecologist fire is imp force at work in australia
• some plants are fire resistant
• some plants like eucalyptus contains flammable oils in their leaves
• European explorers of Australian coastline noted the excessive ushfire smoke
• In 1642 they saw smoke drifting over the coast of Tasmania
• after observing - 'continent of smoke' by European explorers
Major events in 19th century

• 1851 - black Thursday bushfires in Victoria

( Fire from Portland to Gippsland, 1 million sheeps dead and thousand of cattle
was affected, people were huddling and 12 lives were reported death )
• European settlers learned fire management and started growing green crops
around their their hay-stay
• 1898 - red Tuesday bushfires ( 12 dead and 2000 buildings destroyed )

Major events in 20th century

• 1926 – Gippsland and black Sunday in Victoria (60 people killed over 2 months
large areas of Gippsland in Victoria caught fire, leading to the Black Sunday fires
on 14 February, when 31 people were killed in Warburton, near Melbourne.
These fires remain the fifth most deadly bushfires recorded )
• 1939 - black Friday in Victoria (71 dead 650 homes lost fires burning the urban
fringes of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, and ash falling as far away as New
Zealand They followed years of drought and a series of extreme heatwaves that
were accompanied by strong northerly winds, after a very dry six months ) 3rd
deadliest event
• 1967 - black Tuesday ( 62 dead 1300 homeless, Tasmania suffered its most
destructive fire season, and Australia's fourth most deadly on record, strong
northerly winds and high temperatures drove at least 80 different fires across
the south-east, burning to within 2 kilometres ) 4th deadliest fire
• 1974-1975 ( fires 15% of the Australia burnt
Fires that summer burnt an estimated 117 million hectares six people,
approximately 57,000 farm animals, farmers' crops, and destroyed nearly 10,200
kilometres )
• 1983 - Ash Wednesday in Victoria and south Australia (75 dead, caused
widespread destruction across parts of South Australia and Victoria, burning an
area of 3.74 million acres of bushland

Major events in 21st century

• 2003 January almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) pastures,
pine plantations, and nature parks were severely damaged,Fires entered the
suburbs of Canberra, in the following ten hours, four people died and over 490
were injured 470 homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
• 2009 - black Saturday in Victoria (173 people killed 2000 home lost)
Melbourne's maximum temperature was above 43 °C for three consecutive days
for the first time since records had been kept, accompanied by strong winds later
to be known as 'Black Saturday'—precipitated major bushfires throughout
Victoria.
2019-2020 Bushfire

• 2019-20 Australian bushfire season or black summer was one of the most
intense and devastating fire season on record.
• led to an early start to the Bush fire season, June 2019 to May 2020
• Peaked from 2019 to January 20 20
• 24.3 million hectares was burnt
• over 800 million animals died
• koalas got almost endangered risk of extinction
• 34 people died, 3000 buildings destroyed, 445 deaths due to smoke
• 67% to 83% of significant rainforest and you ecaulypt forest and woodland
were burnt

Causes of Bushfire:

• Human caused
• Weather
• natural phenomenon
• Topography
• Australia is the largest exporter of coal
• Scott Morrison was criticised many times for ignoring imp issues like climate
change
• not ready to accept the fact that there is a direct link between climate change
and fires
• still promoting coal energy
• australia is world's second largest carbon emittion per capita after USA
• contributes significantly towards climate change.
• projects with Adani group to install coal mines on the great barrier reef
• projects are not stopped even after protests
• 715 million tonnes carbon emission from fire satellite estimated.
• New Zealand no turned yellow due to the severe smoke
• Air-pollution causing hazardous respiratory diseases
• Smoke was more deadly from the bushfire than itself. Worst air-quality index.

Impact on economy

• 2009 black Saturday fires was the costliest in Australian history of avg 4.4
billion dollar loss
• 2019-2020 was worst it exceeded and crippled the consumer confidence and
harm industries like farming and tourism
• medical bills after fire were expected to reach 100s of millions
• council estimated the cost to be more that 700 million dollar
• in 2020 the Australian and New Zealand banking council fell to its lowest
• compensation to volunteer firefighters and military personnel
• farm GDP declined by 22%