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Extinction Rebellion

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The lungs of the earth are choking from smoke. We're sure we aren't the only people who checked their Twitter or Instagram feeds and were deeply shocked by the visuals of flames licking the Amazon's greenery and blackness covering São Paolo. A feeling of general helplessness can't help but wash over us. After all, the Amazon is in Brazil (among other nations) and we're in Ireland. 

We can still offer our own assistance to the species of the rainforest, can fight Governmental idleness and capitalist greed and stop the extinction of Indigenous people. There is still time, if we act now.

The Amazon rainforest provides one-fifth of the entire world's oxygen supply, but what if it burns to cinders? Essentially climate breakdown will be irreversible.

The forest acts as a carbon sink, absorbing more CO2 than it emits while releasing oxygen, and stocking 90 to 140 billion tonnes of CO2, which regulate worldwide global warming, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Deforestation is reducing this capacity for absorbing CO2. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by WWF_UK (@wwf_uk) on

Illegal deforestation is taking place and forest fires are being started for cattle farming in Brazil, the world's biggest exporter of beef. What can you do to help? Well, stop eating and buying beef. 

The entire Amazon rainforest has been ablaze for three whole weeks, yet media coverage is only really kick-starting now.

Many are correctly pointing out the irony that the Notre Dame fire, which killed or injured no one and didn't even result in significant damage, resulted in billionaires throwing money at it within seconds. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by  (@sustainablefashiondublin) on

The most important ecological landscape in the world, which houses one-quarter of the Earth's species; namely 30,000 types of plants; 2,500 fish; 1,500 birds; 500 mammals; 550 reptiles and 2.5 million insects, according to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).

In the past 20 years alone, 2,200 new species of plants and vertebrates have been discovered there. As the largest tropical forest in the world, it covers 5.5 million square kilometres.

Reports are now saying that if we lose just one more fifth of the rainforest, it will trigger a feedback loop known as dieback. This essentially means that the forest will dry out and burn in a cascading system collapse that no amount of human intervention can save.

The amount of deforestation taking place in the Amazon has increased by around 68 percent since Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has entered office.

He has basically declared war on the environment, threatening to wipe out the whole department in the Government and even blames NGOs for the forest fires. 

The majority of the deforestation in the Amazon takes place to make room for cattle farmers to export beef and soy products, so a boycott of these products is an absolute must.

Bolsonaro accused non-governmental organisations of setting wildfires in the Amazon rainforest to damage his government's image, despite presenting no evidence to back up this ridiculous claim.

Bolsonaro has also threatened the exctinction of Brazil's Indigenous population, much of which reside as tribes in the Amazon. Corporations are allowed by the President to illegally confiscate their land, burn it to ash and farm on it.

The Amazon has been inhabited for at least 11,000 years and today counts 34 million people, of whom two-thirds live in cities. 

Nearly three million people are members of some 420 different tribes, of which about 60 are completely isolated in the Amazon forest, according to ACTO.

Alarmingly, according to the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, there has been an 84 percent increase in wildfires this year and more than 9,500 last week alone

A blackout in São Paulo on Monday sparked worldwide concerns, with the city being submerged into darkness at 3pm. São Paulo is almost 3,000 km away from the rainforest, yet the sky became entirely black, showing the extent of the fires.

It's vitally important at this pivotal moment in our climate emergency that you donate to charities and organisations like Rainforest Action Network, the WWF and Amazon Watch. 

Indigenous people are among the most vulnerable in society, and history has not been kind to them when it comes to colonisation and economic capitalist gain. 

Sign as many Greenpeace petitions as you can, write to your Government asking them to demand action, and change your lifestyle to exclude Brazilian beef and soy products. Buy deforestation-free products. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by  (@wwf) on

Almost 20 percent of the Amazon forest has disappeared in the last half-century, according to the WWF, and this is accelerating at a massive and terrifying rate.

We can't simply see the images on our phones and become disconnected from the dangers, and assume the death of Earth's lungs won't affect us.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the reasons why Earth has managed to stay alive, and we need to save it and it's animal and wildlife inhabitants.

Feature image: Instagram/@ocean_armour

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Last night, Ireland became just the SECOND country in the world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency, after the United Kingdom began the proceedings on May 1.

A Fianna Fáil amendment to the Oireachtas report on Climate Action was accepted by the Opposition parties and Government without a vote, which led to this vital development.

Fine Gael's Hildegarde Naughton, who acts as Chair of the Climate Action Committee praised the vote as "an important statement" but stressed that "now we need action."

16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg welcomed Ireland' progress, and posed the valuable question to other countries around the world, "Who is next?" 

The young Nobel Peace Prize nominee has been pivotal in starting the school strikes around the globe to protest government lack of action on ecological breakdown.

Naughton claimed that Minister for Climate Action Richard Bruton would come back with new proposals soon to the Dáil. The Chair also asserted that she looked forward to working "with all parties and none" to scrutinise them.

Eamon Ryan, leader of the Green Party, said tonight’s declaration came under quite“unusual circumstances” after he moved the Fianna Fáil motion into the Dáil without any of their TDs being present in the chamber.

Ryan continued by saying “it will be of little meaning unless we are now willing to act on the recommendations of the Committee.”

He vehemently warned that "declaring an emergency means absolutely nothing unless there is action to back it up. That means the Government having to do things they don't want to do".

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Deputy Bríd Smith, of Solidarity/People Before Profit, said she was "delighted" with the declaration, but expressed her concern over whether or not the Government will support her Climate Emergency Measures Bill next month.

The Bill seeks to limit oil and gas exploration. Fianna Fáil climate action spokesman Timmy Dooley moved the amendment, but when the vote came before the House it was put forward by Deputy Ryan,

There were only six TDs in the chamber and none of them were from Fianna Fáil, which speaks volumes. The Green Party Leader stated that, "We have declared a climate emergency in our own Irish way."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Ireland has hit the headlines in recent times over our dire attempts to tackle climate change. The nation was ranked the worst in Europe in a report published in December. 

The Climate Change Performance Index ranked Ireland 48th out of 56 countries, with a score of 40.84. This is dangerously low, considering the EU average is 60.65.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has bluntly referred to Ireland as a “laggard” on the issue, and the country is set to miss emission reduction targets and face significant EU fines as a result.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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A Citizens' Assembly will consider the issue of a biodiversity emergency. A United Nations report has only just hit the world, stating that almost one million species are facing extinction because of humankind's damage to the planet.

Sinn Féin's Brian Stanley had also called for a climate emergency to be declared, but there were no Sinn Féin TDs in the Dáil chamber when the amendments were put. The lack of representation from major parties did not go unnoticed.

Feature image: PressFrom

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