Footballer blames cattle farming for Amazon fires

Images: @smalling and @rainforestalliance

Totally Vegan Buzz Team23rd August 201927th August 2019Environment, News

Fires raging over two weeks in the Amazon are ripping the atmosphere apart and the situation is catastrophic.

This year has been extremely bad for the Amazon in Brazil with over 72,843 fires torching the rainforest between January and August – a dramatic increase of 84 percent on the same period in 2018.

Chris Smalling, Manchester United defender, took to Instagram to share his thoughts and urge his followers to make environmentally-positive changes.

“We have to start looking after our planet.”

“The Amazon rainforest slows down the pace of global warming, and it’s been on fire for over two whole weeks. This post is not about ‘you’re a footballer, focus on the pitch’, I’m a human being with a family that would like to see this planet thriving. If I can use my platform to help, that’s what I’m going to do. We need to stop the ignorance and all work to make a change.” posted the vegan footballer.

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We have to start looking after our planet…🌱 The Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world and a vital carbon store providing 20% of our oxygen, is home to near 3 million species of plants and animals, as well as 1 million indigenous people. The leading cause of the Amazon’s deforestation is cattle ranching and wild fires are deliberately started in an effort to support this. Between Jan and Aug, Inpe detected 74,000 of them! ‼️ Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse emissions…more than the combined exhaust from all transportation and the fires alone release huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. The Amazon rainforest slows down the pace of Global Warming and it’s been on fire for over 2 whole weeks…!! This post is not about ‘you’re a footballer, focus on the pitch’, I’m a human being with a family that would like to see this planet thriving. If I can use my platform to help, that’s what I’m going to do. We need to stop the ignorance and all work to make a change!

A post shared by Chris Smalling (@smalling) on Aug 22, 2019 at 2:25am PDT

The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest tropical jungle providing a natural habitat to almost one million humans and three million species of vegetation and wildlife. It also curbs down the pace of global warming, as a vital carbon depository.

While some of these blazes are wildfires, others have been illegally started to clear forest areas for livestock farming-a thought echoed by Smalling as well.

The heat is on for Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro as many are blaming him for his callous decisions ever since he assumed office in January. Despite conservationists warning about deforestation, he pledged to develop the region for farming and mining.

In his defense, the far-right president suggested NGOs were to blame for the surge in rainforest blazes because they lost money under his governance – but provided no evidence for his claim.

Although there isn’t much one can do to stop the fires remotely, a few things can help the Amazon rainforest. Will you care to pitch in?

Charities:
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Trust
Amazon Watch

Engage on social media using the hashtags:
#PrayForAmazonia
#PrayForTheAmazon
#ActForAmazon

Read: The Amazon Rainforest Is Burning Down

How will this ongoing fire impact us? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Totally Vegan Buzz Team

The Totally Vegan Buzz Team are a gang of extremely entertaining writers who also happen to be vegan. Together, they bring you all the vegan infotainment you need – trends, news, quizzes and more. Leave them a comment! They love it when you guys say hi…

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Published by Totally Vegan Buzz Team

The Totally Vegan Buzz Team are a gang of extremely entertaining writers who also happen to be vegan. Together, they bring you all the vegan infotainment you need - trends, news, quizzes and more. Leave them a comment! They love it when you guys say hi... View more posts