462-4/24 Livestock and Wildfires, Outubro, 2024, draft
462/24 - Global warming and Energy Transition. draft
Where there's smoke, there's cattle: leading states in livestock farming have the highest number of fires, study shows, by Lucas Weber, in Brasil de Fato, October 2, 2024 at 2:09 pm
A study published by the NGO "Mercy For Animals" shows a relationship between the expansion of the agricultural frontier and fire data
The capital of Brazilian livestock farming, São Felix do Xingu (PA), was also the champion in fires this year [2024]. The city of 65,000 inhabitants has more than 2.5 million cattle in its territory and recorded 2,522 fire outbreaks between January and the first half of September 2024.
The data compiled by the NGO Mercy For Animals is part of a larger study that shows the correlation between livestock farming and fire in the country.
Among the ten states with the highest number of fires this year, eight are also the ones with the largest cattle herds in the territory. Mato Grosso and Pará have the highest number of cities on the list.
"We can say that cattle follow in the wake of fire, which comes after deforestation," argues George Sturaro, Director of Government Relations and Public Policies at "Mercy For Animals", in an interview this Wednesday (oct 2, 2024).
"There is a historical cycle of destruction of Brazilian biomes driven by the expansion of cattle ranching and also of monoculture, especially soybean monoculture, most of which is used to feed animals raised in confinement, such as pigs, chickens, and hens."
Sturaro explains that cattle ranching uses fire in two moments. First, it is to "clear" an area that has recently been deforested. In other words, the farmer cuts down the largest trees and the remaining vegetation is destroyed by fire, to prepare the land for pasture.
"From time to time, this pasture needs to be renewed. And the way to renew it again is with fire. So, farmers set fire to the pasture."
The researcher says that this has been the model applied to the Cerrado and Amazon for at least the last 40 years, mainly with the movement imposed by the military dictatorship known as Marca do Boi. But the expert goes further.
"If we look at the model of "economic development in Brazil", in general terms, it has remained unchanged over the last 40, 50 years. It is strongly based on extractive crops, monocultures."
"At least around 80% of Brazil's agricultural exports are based on 10 products, with a predominant share of soybeans and products of animal origin, such as beef and chicken."
It is an economic model based mainly on monoculture for export, which does not differ much in its ethos from the colonial model that we have had for the last 500 years," he concludes.
https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/10/02/onde-ha-fumaca-ha-boi-estados-lideres-na-pecuaria-concentram-maior-numero-de-incendios-mostra-estudo
In the last few months, typically the peak of the annual fire season, the Amazon has seen record blazes. Data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) showed more than 38,000 fires in the Amazon last month – the highest August figure for 14 years. That followed nearly 11,500 in July, the highest in almost two decades. And figures for September (more than 23,000 in the first 11 days) are already close to surpassing last year’s.
Last month, fires spread from the Amazon to Brasília and São Paulo. Flights were grounded and schools shut down.
So deforestation is decreasing while fires are on the rise. What’s going on?
The first thing to understand is that deforestation (generally defined as the permanent conversion of forest for another use) has various different causes, such as logging, road-building, mining and farming. Many of these are being tackled in the Brazilian Amazon – and fires are now accounting for a larger share of overall forest loss.
The Brazilian authorities have attributed the alarming rise in forest fires to global heating and the El Niño weather pattern, which both exacerbated early-year droughts whose effects are still being felt. However, experts suspect human activity could also be a key driver.
A recent analysis by the Amazon Environment Research Institute, an NGO, shows that a vast majority of the fires in August occurred in agricultural areas, raising suspicion among environmentalists that some of the activity may have been intentional.
Paula Vargas, Brazil programme director at Amazon Watch, an NGO, told TBIJ that ranchers often start fires deliberately, which is illegal in Brazil.
“There are ongoing investigations by Brazilian authorities into whether farmers yet again organised a ‘fire day’ this year,” said Vargas. Four people have been arrested in connection with starting the fires that spread to São Paulo.
Global danger
Writing in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, a group of international academics warn of the dangers of uncontrolled wildfires for forest degradation, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss and damage to Indigenous communities.
All this forest destruction and degradation has severe consequences for the global climate. The Amazon forest has historically acted as a carbon sink, storing potential emissions in its trees, soils and vegetation. But rampant destruction in recent years means that in some parts, the forest now releases more carbon than it absorbs.
Key to halting forest loss, Vargas added, is support for Indigenous people, who are recognised as the best forest protectors and safeguard around 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.
[The government should fight, too,] a legacy of criminal activities such as land invasions and deforestation in the Amazon. [It should too, increase] funding for environmental law enforcement and [should have to] actively [disencouraged] the conversion of forest into pasture to raise cattle.
Adapted from: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-09-12/amazon-fires-are-soaring-again-but-forest-loss-is-down.-whats-going-on
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