Since the beginning of the year, tens of thousands of fires have been burning across the Amazon basin. Millions of species of plants and animals that reside in the forest are dying. With more than 47% of these fires occurring in the last month, if action is not taken soon the results could be irreversible.

While the amount of these fires could make you think they are natural, these fires have all been man-made. It has been the intent of loggers and ranchers seeking to clear land that resulted in more than 90% of these fires taking place. The Amazon has always had a constant fluctuation of fires throughout the years however, some think the reason for the recent uptake in deforestation is Brazil’s new president took office in January. Jair Bolsonaros vow when he took office was to open the rainforest to more development. This pro-business politician stated that “not one centimeter” would be set aside for the 1 million Brazilians that have lived in the rainforest for their entire lives. Since the beginning of Bolsonaro’s presidency, the number of fires in the forest has risen by 84%.

This current issue may not sound important to some however, many have started taking to social media about the fires. #ActForTheAmazon has begun trending on twitter for the last month and many public figures are stepping up to show their support. Tim Cook, Peter DeFazio, and the World Wildlife Fund are just some that have spoken out. These social media posts are making a difference, what are some things that we could do as a school to change the Amazon for the better?

Together there are many things we can do to help the suffering amazon. Things such as reducing paper and wood consumption, donating to the Rainforest Trust to help buy land, or even eating less beef to reduce fires started for land grazing. The little things we do can make a big change so spread the word about this situation and the importance of our forests.