In case you missed it, sections of the Amazon rain forest are currently engulfed in flames. As a matter of fact, the Amazon has been burning for over a month. While forest fires are normal, especially in the drier months of the year, it is obvious that there is something more sinister at play here – capitalism, and denial of climate change.

Let’s examine the terrifying implications of the forest burning.

The Amazon rain forest is the largest rain forest in the world, and it takes up 90 billion tonnes of carbon. We can’t even begin to process what releasing 90 billion tonnes of carbon in the atmosphere would do. In addition to that, the trees in the Amazon are responsible for producing 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen. Scientists have named the Amazon as the “most valuable asset humanity possesses” in the fight against climate change. Therefore, it’s easy to see how the forest burning is a huge deal.

The most devastating aspect of the burning is that it threatens the life and livelihood of indigenous people. For centuries the life of indigenous people has been disregarded and this fire is just another example of this. When media houses are covering the story or people are tweeting, they conveniently forget the indigenous people who call the forest their home. They aren’t the ones living unsustainably. They aren’t the ones contributing in a major way to climate change. unfortunately, they have to face the harshest consequences.

Brazil, the country with the bulk of the Amazon, has always had trouble managing the enormous forest. People have always gone in to clear land for the sake of profits even though the consequences of doing it in the long term is bad news. Over the past couple of years, Brazil has managed to decrease deforestation. Brazil was actively trying to be in the fight to delay climate change, and they even increased law enforcement and protected more lands. They went as far as to penalize counties that did not reduce deforestation rates.

The fires are fueled by profits

The reason the Amazon rain forest is burning at such a rapid rate is because of capitalism and the denying of climate change by the people in charge. People have been, and still are, setting the Amazon on fire because they are hungry for profits. It’s been said that people have set sections of the Amazon on fire to clear land for cattle and soybeans. Vegans have long pointed out that eating meat is ruining the environment, but that is just half of the story. The increased demand for certain grains and beans have had devastating consequences too. In this case, it’s a reason why the Amazon is burning. Any industry running on capitalistic principles is going to be unsustainable and hurt people as well as the environment.

The responsibility to protect the Amazon and its inhabitants fall squarely on the shoulders of the government. It was through government action and policies that deforestation went down. However, Brazil’s president is a climate change denier. He believes the climate change scenarios proposed are hoaxes. He plans on “developing” the Amazon rain forest and this, of course, means destruction and deforestation. Since he took office in January, more than 1,330 square miles of the forest have been ruined for the sake of “development”. At this stage  we figured people, especially world leaders, would reject any notion of development that isn’t sustainable, yet here we are. There are talks of revoking land rights for indigenous people’s land (because of course where there are capitalism and destruction, racism isn’t too far behind).

There are currently over 1,750 active fires in the Amazon and Brazil could use the help in extinguishing them. So far this year, more than 80,000 fires in the country have been detected by Brazil’s space research center, INPE. However, Brazil’s president has rejected G7 offer of aid valued at 22 million dollars because of hurt feelings. Remember when they said women couldn’t lead because they’re too emotional? That belief doesn’t make much sense, does it? So because of hurt feelings, the world is going to lose its most valuable asset in the fight against climate change? As a result of hurt feelings, the ingenious people are going to lose their lives?

We hope the capitalists can breathe money instead of oxygen because they might need to.