Warplanes dump water on Amazon as Brazil military begins fighting fires

[webfact]

Warplanes dump water on Amazon as Brazil military begins fighting fires

By Jake Spring

 

Firefighters extinguish a fire in Amazon jungle in Porto Velho, Brazil August 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

 

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian warplanes are dumping water on the burning forest in the Amazon state of Rondonia, responding to a global outcry over the destruction of the world's largest tropical rain forest, according to a government video.

 

As of Sunday, President Jair Bolsonaro had authorized military operations in seven states to combat raging fires in the Amazon, responding to requests for assistance from their local governments, a spokeswoman for his office said.

 

The video posted by the Defense Ministry on Saturday evening showed a military plane pumping thousands of liters (thousands of gallons) of water out of two giant jets as it passed through clouds of smoke close to the forest canopy.

 

The response comes as leaders of countries in the Group of Seven (G7) nations currently meeting in France expressed grave concerns over the fires.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said the G7 was nearing a deal to provide "technical and financial help" to countries affected by the Amazon fires.

 

Nearly 80,000 fires have been registered across Brazil through Aug. 24, the highest since at least 2013, according to space research agency INPE.

 

Bolsonaro announced the military would be sent in on Friday after several days of criticism from the public and world leaders that Brazil's government was not doing anything to fight the fires.

 

He also said on Twitter he had accepted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer of a plane and specialized support for the firefighting operations, following a call between the two leaders.

 

But outside of Rondonia, the government had yet to provide any operational details for other states. The Defense Ministry said in a briefing on Saturday that 44,000 troops were available in Brazil's northern Amazon region but did not say how many would be used where and what they would do.

 

The Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to request for more details on Sunday.

 

Justice Minister Sergio Moro had also authorized a force of military police to assist in fighting the fires, with 30 set to be sent from Brasilia to Porto Velho. The president's office posted to Twitter a photo of police officers on a plane bound for Rondonia set to arrive at noon.

 

Environment Minister Ricardo Salles posted a video showing a caravan of yellow fire prevention trucks and other government vehicles, saying they were on the ground responding in Rondonia.

 

Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Sunday he would seek a conservation pact with other Amazonian countries - first in bi-lateral meetings in Peru this week and then at the United Nations General Assembly.

 

"Colombia wants to lead a pact, a conservation pact, between the countries that have Amazon territory," Duque said after meeting with an indigenous community in the Amazonian city of Leticia in southern Colombia. "We must understand the protection of our Mother Earth and our Amazon is a duty, a moral duty."

 

The Amazon is the world's largest tropical rain forest and is seen as vital to the fight against climate change because of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide that it absorbs.

 

The Amazon, which provides 20% of the planet's oxygen, is home to an estimated one million indigenous people from up to 500 tribes as well some three million species of plants and animals, including jaguars, sloths, giant otters, river dolphins, howler monkeys, toucans, reptiles, frogs and insects.

 

Brazilian climate scientist Carlos Nobre said he worries if 20-25% of the ecosystem is destroyed that the Amazon could reach a tipping point, after which it would enter a self-sustaining period of dieback as the forest converts to savannah. Nobre warned that it is not far off with already 15-17% of the rain forest having been destroyed.

 

(Reporting by Jake Spring in Brasilia, additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Editing by Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-26

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[sirineou]

The fires in the Amazon are an international disaster, but since the resource is necessary for the well being of the whole planet , not have the whole planet pay for it's maintenance? 

Europe , the USA and other have destroyed vast tracts of forest so that they could industrialise, Now the Bazile wants to do the same, and we say to them, "no you can't do the same , we need your rain forest to breath because we destroyed or forests" 

IMO if the world wants them to halt industrialization to maintain the resource,  the whole world needs  to pay for the opportunity loss. 

How about in return  for rain forest maintenance, we transfer or help them develop  low impact technology industry there ?

[Somtamnication]

Too little too late. I saw pics of the animals being burned  in Chiquitos (Bolivia), part of the Amazon fires; what hearbreak. Protecting the natives is priority. Then lets burn down the farmers who are doing this crime against humanity.

[Tug]

It’s a step in the right direction and I like sirineius idea 

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

The fires in the Amazon are an international disaster, but since the resource is necessary for the well being of the whole planet , not have the whole planet pay for it's maintenance? 

Europe , the USA and other have destroyed vast tracts of forest so that they could industrialise, Now the Bazile wants to do the same, and we say to them, "no you can't do the same , we need your rain forest to breath because we destroyed or forests" 

IMO if the world wants them to halt industrialization to maintain the resource,  the whole world needs  to pay for the opportunity loss. 

How about in return  for rain forest maintenance, we transfer or help them develop  low impact technology industry there ?

The EU and other European nations have been making substantial monetary contributions to Brazil to preserve the Amazon rain forest. It is by their threat to stop such contributions as well as trade sanctions that thus far has caused the Bolsonaro government to reverse its development policies in the Amazon. Given the swift and substantial degree of Brazil's engagement to stop the fires, Brazil is heading such threats.

Note that POTUS Trump offered to side with Bolsonaro to mitigate (with no specifics as is typical of Trump) the EU threat of retaliation - consistent with Trump's position that climate change is a hoax intended to rob rich countries like the U.S.

Trump's friendliness with Bolsonaro may also have another agenda. Brazil supports the Maduro regime in Venezuela while Trump opposes Maduro. Trump's pledge to assist Brazil's resistance to the EU might be leveraged quid pro quo to reverse Brazil's support for the Maduro regime.

[Catoni]

Isn’t that the same Brazil president that gave the farmers and other land clearers the go ahead to burn more forest off during the Amazon dry season? 

    

[Krataiboy]

I blame the Chinese (makes a change from the Russians).

 

Apparently the swine fever epidemic in China has decimated the pig population, causing zillions of Chinese to switch to eating beef.

 

Brazilian farmers are meeting the demand by burning forest land to start cattle farms. Eco capitalism at its finest.

[bendejo]

Giving $$$ to Brazil is a joke, the corruption  is legendary.  It's a good place to be a dealer for European luxury cars, though.

 

3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Trump's friendliness with Bolsonaro may also have another agenda. Brazil supports the Maduro regime in Venezuela while Trump opposes Maduro. Trump's pledge to assist Brazil's resistance to the EU might be leveraged quid pro quo to reverse Brazil's support for the Maduro regime.

I didn't know DT was on a quest to turn other countries against the EU, sounds like he's doing Vlad's bidding.  US metals industries down the tubes, to be replaced by Russian companies; US agricultural exports down the tubes, farmers compensated with gov't welfare.  Meanwhile the US press is obsessed with the latest twitter tantrum.

 

[White Christmas13]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Too little too late. I saw pics of the animals being burned  in Chiquitos (Bolivia), part of the Amazon fires; what hearbreak. Protecting the natives is priority. Then lets burn down the farmers who are doing this crime against humanity.

You talking about Thailand or Brazil?