By L.B.M. Pires and M. Romao
Atlanta, March 20, 2018
The Amazon biome is one of the most vulnerable in the world to deforestation due to uncontrolled forest fires. During 2017, 138,987 outbreaks of fire were recorded throughout the Amazon; this was the year with the second highest number of outbreaks, according to INPE (National Institute for Space Research), located in Sao Jose dos Campos – Brazil. The year 2004 showed the highest number of outbreaks on record with 145,251 outbreaks recorded, devastating a huge amount of untouched forests, putting cities, indigenous villages, ecosystems, rivers, animals, and riparian forests at risk as well as releasing a gigantic amount of CO2 into the atmosphere and contaminating the air with thick smoke that is retained in the lower levels of the atmosphere.
Exposure to smoke from burning vegetation worsens air quality in affected areas and causes serious health effects such as respiratory disorders including asthma, especially in children, and cardiovascular problems in the elderly, as well as a variety of other health problems. In addition to causing health problems, smoke restricts visibility and hampers the operation of airports. For example, the city of Porto Velho / RO is an important Amazonian capital which suffers annually with the effects of smoke, as was the case in August 2017 when the city was immersed in smoke for 17 days. During this period, the international airport of Porto Velho registered successive flights delays and isolation of the city’s airways,on the days when the smoke was thickest, causing a great financial loss to the airlines and passengers, in addition to the flight safety risk. But there have been worse periods as in August of 2005 when the city remained under smoke for 28 days and in August of 2007 with 27 days under smoke.
For a number of years, Brazil has not provided an efficient fire-fighting policy in the Amazon. Therefore, in the next dry season, which will begin at the end of July, new cases of hospital overcrowding by children and elderly people with respiratory problems again will recur. Many cities, villages, and airports will be covered by smoke from the destructin of the natural environment resulitng in stifling of defenseless people and animals.