Alarmist? Since the ’60s I’ve heard that the Amazon rain forest is “the earth’s lungs” and supplies about 20% of the world’s oxygen. Yet all these years later, the Brazilians are burning it down like there’s no tomorrow. Which there won’t be at the rate they’re going.
Perhaps the indigenous people aren’t educated enough to appreciate the global impact of what they are doing. Or more likely, they are too poor to care. They are being paid to burn the forest to make room to grow crops and run cattle. It’s their employers who should hang.
Colorado’s one-of-a-kind 747 global supertanker, the world’s largest firefighting aircraft, is down there now, fighting the fires. I’m pleased and proud to know it is there, but given the scope of the fires and conditions on the ground, I’m not sure it will make much difference.
Alarmist? You bet I am. I rather enjoy being able to breathe every day, and I’m sure my progeny will feel the same way.
All you can do is shake your head. So dreadful.
On one had it’s theirs – and apparently flat farm land is more desirable to them – while so much of the rest of the world (who have already destroyed what valuable/unidentified potential plants in their lands long ago) are more than disturbed – panicked for what may be lost forever.
Massive blaze. The smoke will be a global problem. The wonder destroyed before understanding.
(yes, overly and the massive factory farms and employers instrumenting it?)
If we could only redirect tropical storms and hurricane rains.
This is how so much of North Africa became desert. And with desertification, both humans and wildlife lose. The whole world loses if we don’t all take care of it.
So scary to think about, and I feel so helpless and powerless to make any significant change to stop it.
I feel the same way. There’s so little I can do locally, although I try, and absolutely nothing I can do about what happens in other countries. It’s frustrating and depressing.
Just one more way in which homo sapiens (sic) is ruining the only planet it will ever have. This innate behavior may well be the reason why we have never discovered intelligent life in the universe. It is self-destructive.
I agree. It’s nuts to be destroying the only home we have. Or rather, making it uninhabitable. Even if only a barren rock, it will probably be here long after we’re gone.
Have you read “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” by Jared Diamond? It’s a fascinating look at cultures as diverse as Montana, the Vikings, Easter Island and the Mayans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_to_Fail_or_Succeed
This was his Ted Talk:
Wow. I’m extremely impressed (read the article and watched the video). I’d never heard of Jared Diamond, but I won’t be forgetting him now — if only so I can be right on his heels if and when he leaves the country. He sees the BIG picture. And it’s not looking real good for us right now.
Thanks for telling me about this. Very thought-provoking. And extremely worrisome.
(You doing okay? It’s good to be seeing you again.)
Thanks for asking, and thanks for seeing me again… I’m getting better. I’ve been trying to get back into regular blogging, so I thought updating my photo blog would be the easiest way to do that. So far it’s harder than I remember, but I’m enjoying it.
WordPress keeps changing things. The last time I tried to start a new blog, it was tough, even though I’d kept up with this one the whole time. But if you’re enjoying it, that’s the point.
Thanks for sharing….