Our diets are fueling flames in the Amazon

[mystery-ak]

Our diets are fueling flames in the Amazon
By Shahir Masri, opinion contributor — 08/25/19 11:00 AM EDT

The Amazon has made headlines this month as fires rip across the region. While this is the dry season for the area, during which fires are common, fires have nonetheless reached unprecedented highs this season — up 80 percent compared to last year. As the Amazon burns, the world has lit up with despair and outrage, with hashtags such as #PrayForTheAmazon going viral.

As the fires and emotional uproar continue, one naturally wonders "who is to blame?" Of course, the obvious cause is "human ignition," as these fires are mostly due to farmers and ranchers using flames to clear forests and shrublands (a common practice in tropical regions). However, the underlying reason for farming-related fires is also important to pursue.

Some news reports point to climate change, as hotter and drier temperatures have contributed to the increased flammability of landscapes not only in Brazil, but all over the world. Others point to Brazil's new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who champions the exploitation of the Amazon for economic gain and who’s government has scaled back efforts to fight illegal logging, ranching and mining — thus emboldening more farmers, ranchers, and land-grabbers to clear forestlands.

more
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/458719-our-diets-are-fueling-flames-in-the-amazon

[Sanguine]

Our diets are fueling flames in the Amazon
By Shahir Masri, opinion contributor — 08/25/19 11:00 AM EDT

The Amazon has made headlines this month as fires rip across the region. While this is the dry season for the area, during which fires are common, fires have nonetheless reached unprecedented highs this season — up 80 percent compared to last year. As the Amazon burns, the world has lit up with despair and outrage, with hashtags such as #PrayForTheAmazon going viral.

As the fires and emotional uproar continue, one naturally wonders "who is to blame?" Of course, the obvious cause is "human ignition," as these fires are mostly due to farmers and ranchers using flames to clear forests and shrublands (a common practice in tropical regions). However, the underlying reason for farming-related fires is also important to pursue.

Some news reports point to climate change, as hotter and drier temperatures have contributed to the increased flammability of landscapes not only in Brazil, but all over the world. Others point to Brazil's new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who champions the exploitation of the Amazon for economic gain and who’s government has scaled back efforts to fight illegal logging, ranching and mining — thus emboldening more farmers, ranchers, and land-grabbers to clear forestlands.

more
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/458719-our-diets-are-fueling-flames-in-the-amazon

Reading the article,  the US doesn't really import Brazilian beef,  but we're to blame... somehow.

[dfwgator]

 

[PeteS in CA]

I had the hiccups last night. They were caused by Donald Trump, America, and Global Warming.

[Smokin Joe]

Reading the article,  the US doesn't really import Brazilian beef,  but we're too blame... somehow.

It's all part of the anti-meat babble of late.
I recall hearing on the radio how some guy at the UN wants us to cut our meat consumption to a burger and a half per week to fight climate change.
Note, also, the number of 'meatless" food ads, meat substitute burgers, even the outfit that had the ad that said "Where's the beef?" is touting a no-meat "burger" in teevee ads.
It's coordinated.

While research often claims there are no known major effects on male health or fertility, compare the American male population of 50 years ago with today's young men, the latter with a much higher exposure to the phytoestrogens in soy and make up your own mind. 

I have been a carnivore from my youth.
I'll take more red meat over desert, any time.
Never mind the tofu.

[Bigun]

Total load of bovine fecal matter.

That's three minutes I'll never get back.

[mountaineer]

I had one of my own home-grown tomatoes for lunch. Pretty sure Brazil had nothing to do with it.

[Smokin Joe]

It's their rain forest.
If they want to burn it, that's up to them, but last I heard troops were being mobilized to fight wildfires there.

[roamer_1]

It's their rain forest.
If they want to burn it, that's up to them, but last I heard troops were being mobilized to fight wildfires there.

Does anyone have the actual acreage involved?

[EdJames]

I had one of my own home-grown tomatoes for lunch. Pretty sure Brazil had nothing to do with it.

Yabut was it one of those dangerous beefsteak tomatoes?

[roamer_1]

Yabut was it one of those dangerous beefsteak tomatoes?

Man, them are good! I remember sitting on my grandma's porch, in a hot summer's day... Beefsteak tomato in one hand, salt shaker in the other...

[mountaineer]

Yabut was it one of those dangerous beefsteak tomatoes?

It was, and it was magnificent.

[EdJames]

Man, them are good! I remember sitting on my grandma's porch, in a hot summer's day... Beefsteak tomato in one hand, salt shaker in the other...

That is all that you need!

[EdJames]

It was, and it was magnificent.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Does anyone have the actual acreage involved?

Well, a couple of articles I checked were laced with panicky jibber jaber, but no numbers for this year, only the typical "In the last 50 years..." which is a typical time stretch designed to inflate the numbers.
About as close as I have been able to get to any figures is this:

Meanwhile, as of August 16, a NASA analysis suggested that "total fire activity across the Amazon basin has been close to the average in comparison to the past 15 years". NASA noted that the Amazon spreads across several countries.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/amazon-burning-190823082046821.html

Here are the side effects I predict:

Increased agricultural and mining activity (better accessibility in some areas, and exposure of resources).

Archaeological discoveries, previously masked by foliage, some new finds will come to light after the fires burn out. These, too, will be more accessible by air (helo), and if significant enough, airstrips or roads may be built to access them further.

Nutrients will wash down the Amazon, eventually reaching the ocean and causing an increase in the phytoplankton count offshore, increasing oceanic oxygen production, and the soil in the rain forest will have new growth, also generating O2. There will be increased turbidity in tributaries until this happens, from runoff and erosion of soil.
More varied environments (non canopy jungle) will cause greater variation in habitat, and that will be filled by organisms which are best adapted to that habitat, increasing localized faunal biodiversity. (yeah, I thought that was a good thing)

[roamer_1]

Well, a couple of articles I checked were laced with panicky jibber jaber, but no numbers for this year, only the typical "In the last 50 years..." 

Yeah... Kinda what I have been seeing too - No real numbers, just liberal reporters running around with their hair on fire.

[GtHawk]

Our diet for what? I would guess that more acres of Rainforest are lost to Biofuel crops than food crops or beef cattle.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Reading the article,  the US doesn't really import Brazilian beef,  but we're too blame... somehow.

The guy is one of those true believers.  When you read his articles, they are all about doom and gloom and climate alarmism.

https://www.shahirmasri.com/articles.html

[jmyrlefuller]

Yeah... Kinda what I have been seeing too - No real numbers, just liberal reporters running around with their hair on fire.

The Summer of the Shark, all over again. Except this time, it's being driven by social media hysteria on top of regular media.

[Smokin Joe]

The Summer of the Shark, all over again. Except this time, it's being driven by social media hysteria on top of regular media.

Social Media have become a powerful source of disinformation and misinformation. The articles I looked at trying to find information on just how many acres were burning failed miserably in delivering hard information, even as of any specific date. Instead they used plumped up numbers covering 50 years to make the current problem look like something to be hysterical about, and dodged the question of just how many acres (or hectares or square miles//kilometers) are or were on fire this year.

Let's all panic about something we can't see, have no first hand knowledge of, and no hard data on, and blame it on ranchers and farmers and evil industry, and don't leave out the "Wesa gonna diee!" part.

Phooey. It's a press release for Earth First or something like it, timed to coordinate with the UN saying you can't have a McDouble a week without threatening the planet with overheating.

[aligncare]

I think we’ll take a pass on eating the Virtue Diet and stick with the normal human diet, thank you very much.

[roamer_1]

Let's all panic about something we can't see, have no first hand knowledge of, and no hard data on, and blame it on ranchers and farmers and evil industry, and don't leave out the "Wesa gonna diee!" part.

That's the problem alright... For a bit of perspective, it is not uncommon for Montana to lose a quarter-million acres of forest per year to fire. I am sure one could cobble together the same sort of story up here, with plenty of pictures to go along.

And by the way, it is ALWAYS the farmers, ranchers, and eeevil industry...

Thanks, I will wait to hear from the folks that live there.

[dfwgator]

The Summer of the Shark, all over again. Except this time, it's being driven by social media hysteria on top of regular media.

Aided by Big Food/Big Pharma, that sees the writing on the wall that the Keto Diet is about to eat into their profits.