Bolsonaro, climate change, and fires: The story of Amazon rainforest's devastation

The number of fires burning Brazil's Amazon jungle reached a 15-year high in June, despite the country's pledge last year to stop deforestation by 2030. 

Burning season started last month. The pace of clearing the forest is still rapid, and given that August and September are typically the peak fire months in Brazil, conditions could get worse this month.

Here are some of the elements contributing to the demise of the world's largest rainforest:

In the humid, tropical Amazon jungle, fires do not normally erupt like they do in Europe or the United States. Instead, to clear land, farmers clear the forests and start fires to the trees, which occasionally get out of control.

In the Amazon, the dry season is at its most intense in August and September, making fires more difficult to put out. Relief often comes with the commencement of the rainy season in October.

In the past, undisturbed rainforests have remained damp all year long and resisted fire. However, rising temperatures and drier conditions brought on by climate change make it more difficult to control fires.

Since right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro entered office in 2019 and sought to undermine environmental safeguards, forest fires have gotten worse.

His administration reduced the funding for environmental organisations, curtailed their ability to fight crime, and hampered the process for issuing environmental fines. According to experts, under Bolsonaro, farmers, ranchers, etc. feel free to damage the forest without facing consequences.

According to Bolsonaro, mining and farming should be allowed in protected Amazonian areas in order to combat poverty. The leader did try to preserve the Amazon. The military's use to monitor the forest as part of his landmark Amazon protection strategy has done nothing to stop the devastation.

According to the government's yearly report, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased 22 per cent between August 2020 and July 2021, reaching its highest level since 2006. The total area of cleared forest was about 13,235 square kilometres (5,110 square miles).

Brazil recorded over 75,000 Amazon fires the previous year. 103,000 fires were reported in 2020, an increase of 51 per cent from 2018 (the year before Bolsonaro entered office).

The issue was severe in the early 2000s, previous governments used increased law enforcement, satellite surveillance, and policies such as a ban on Amazon-produced soy to drastically reduce deforestation. 

However, much of that advancement has been undone. 

Yet, despite government data, Bolsonaro has consistently disputed that there has been a rise in fires under his leadership.

In October, Brazil will hold its presidential elections. According to experts, forest devastation will increase before that vote, just as it did before the past four elections, as politicians courting votes relaxed environmental regulations.

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a left-winger who is renowned for taking a more aggressive stance against environmental crime, is currently in the lead. Analysts predict that this could lead to a higher rise in forest crimes as those responsible try to get away with the crimes while Bolsonaro remains in office.

According to research, old-growth rainforests have a much greater capacity to store carbon than newly developed land. As per some estimates, a hectare of pristine forest contains 176 tonnes of carbon, compared to just 5 tonnes or fewer in soy fields or cow pastures, 44 tonnes in newly planted forests within ten years.

Since the destruction of tropical rainforests is responsible for around 9 per cent of CO2 emissions caused by humans, drastically lowering deforestation is crucial for combating climate change, according to scientists.

Brazil wants to use its forests to produce carbon offsets in order to fulfil its commitments to reduce global emissions. However, according to one analysis from last year, emissions from clearing forests accounted for the majority of Brazil's 9.5 per cent increase in greenhouse gas emissions for 2020.