Displaying items by tag: Amazon basin

The Amazon is experiencing a huge environmental crisis; fires have ravaged over 62,000 square kilometres of forest, exacerbated by Brazil’s most severe drought. The fires, usually deliberately started by loggers, miners, and farmers seeking land, are decimating the region. Raimundinha, who leads an indigenous firefighting brigade, has warned: ‘If these fires continue, we indigenous people will die’. Respiratory issues are already affecting her family, and the fires are increasingly encroaching on lands which in theory are protected by the government. The drought has not only fuelled these fires but also drained rivers, making daily life for some nearly impossible. With dwindling resources and rising temperatures, the situation in the Amazon highlights the fragile balance between human activity and environmental conservation, as well as the catastrophic effects of climate change.