The fire in the Amazon: it's the epicenter of the ecological tragedy that moves the world

Nelson, the correspondent witness one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in history: the burning fire in l & # 39; Amazon, the largest tropical forest on the planet and 20% oxygen producer which is consumed in the world. The journalist showed the contrasts of Chapada dos Guimarães, one of the first areas affected by fire, where everything is dry. Then flew Mato Grosso, where at this moment the flames are burning and where the green of the vegetation is still visible, in spite of the disaster.

Chapada dos Guimarães was one of the main focus of fire that punish the Brazilian territory. It has an area of ​​6,249.44 square kilometers, which are mainly occupied by a national park and an area of ​​environmental protection, which have been strongly affected by the progress of the fire. The journalist visited the scene and showed the dark panorama: everything is dry, and the scene is divided between the dust of the earth and a "mattress" of dried leaves.

Nelson also flew over Mato Grosso, one of the places where the flames are currently advancing. It's just from the air the only way to see the fire, that occur in very difficult places of access. Despite the tremendous efforts of firefighters, brigades and now the army, their efforts are not enough to fight the flames. The humidity instead is very low: between 10 and 25%, and rain is expected in October. As if that were not enough, drought contributes to the multiplication of fire sources.

He also visited Cuaiaba, another of the areas affected by the flames. In the place everything is sorry: we still smell smoke, the vegetation was dry by heat and we see very few animals, just a few crows. There are not even any insects, which usually abound instead.

Most fires occur in the Amazon basin. According to the National Institute of Space Research (INPE), a total of 1,663 households were reported in Brazil only between Thursday and Friday.

After international pressure, Bolsonaro mobilized the army

Since Saturday, the Brazilian Armed Forces act in the Amazon amidst world demonstrations against the President Jair Bolsonaro and in defense of the "lung of the planet". The controversial president of Brazil I had first attributed the disaster to NGOs, that he accused of having drawn attention to himself after cutting funds. This has generated a wave of protests in Brazil and in other countries. Finally ordered to mobilize the troops To fight the disaster.

In Brasilia, the Minister of Defense Fernando Azevedo announced that operations had begun in Rondonia (north), one of the seven states out of the nine that the Amazon, and had asked the federal government to send troops. They sent to their capital, Porto Velho, six fire engines, among them two Hercules C-130 from the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), capable of loading 12,000 liters of water. They also sent a brigade of 30 firefighters.

Fires in Amazonia are also a problem. Subject of concern at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France. Leaders of world powers meeting at summit agreed to help countries affected by the flames "as soon as possible", said the French president, Emmanuel Macron. "We are all in agreement to help countries affected by these fires as quickly as possible," Macron told reporters.

The inclusion of this problem on the agenda, without the participation of Latin American countries, has aroused the fury of Bolsonaro. "The suggestion of the French president, that the Amazon issues are discussed in the G7 without the participation of the countries of the region, evokes a colonialist mentality moved to the twenty-first century," criticized the Brazilian president via Twitter. The environmental crisis also threatens to boycott the free trade agreement reached in June between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, whose negotiations lasted 20 years.