In upper South America, forest fires have been raging in Venezuela. Satellites have picked up 30,200 of these fires from Jan to March alone, stated to be the “highest period” of fires since 1999. Guayana City is succumbing to immense smoke due to the fires and as of late March, there are 5,690 active fires, according to NASA’s data. Uverito, home to many families in Venezuela, had to evaluate 315 of these families because of the fires and the damage they’ve caused.
The fires are an effect of the continuous droughts in Brazil, which are seriously affecting the Amazon. An article by CNN reported that scientists are blaming the droughts on climate change and El Niño, a “natural warming” in the eastern Pacific. The center of these droughts is around the southeastern edge of the Amazon; furthermore, it has 150 billion metric tons of carbon stored, and with these increasing temperatures, the luscious green canopy of the forest is starting to deteriorate.
Manoela Machado, a fire researcher at the University of Oxford, said, “While the rainy season has brought relief…the fires in Venezuela could be a worrying sign for what’s ahead.” The researcher also claimed they were likely to see more of these vicious fires due to what has been happening, and proof of this has already occurred in Venezuela. Around 400 firefighters battled a blazing fire over the Easter Holiday. The fire was threatening the Henri Pittier National Park and a resident stated, “I am shocked, if not to say alarmed, by this fire…I had never seen a fire of this magnitude and this damage to the environment.”
The smoke from these fires is taking a heavy toll on the population. Asthma and other respiratory problems affect people’s lungs and cause issues everywhere, according to the American Lung Association. William Lopez, a union leader with the Maderas del Orinoco, said these fires are happening because of the lack of equipment to fight them. “Firefighters have to work miracles to be able to fight fires without equipment.”
