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HUNDREDS OF NEW fires have flared up in the Amazon in Brazil, even as military aircraft dumped water over hard-hit areas and G7 nations pledged $20 million to help combat the blazes.
Two C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying thousands of litres of water on Sunday began dousing fires raging across the world’s largest rainforest, which is seen as crucial to combatting climate change.
Swathes of the remote region have been scorched by the worst fires in years.
Experts say increased land clearing during the months-long dry season to make way for crops or grazing has aggravated the problem this year.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has ordered an investigation into reports that rural producers in the northern state of Para held a “day of fire” on 10 August in a show of support for the far-right leader’s efforts to weaken environmental protection monitoring in the region.
“We must respond to the call of the forest which is burning today in the Amazon,” France’s Emmanuel Macron said as President Sebastian Pinera of Chile, a guest of the G7, underlined that “countries of the Amazon are in dire need of fire brigades and water bomber planes”.
Macron had declared the situation an “international crisis” and made it a priority of the summit of the G7, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
Diplomatic row
The worsening crisis has fueled a row between Bolsonaro and Macron, who has been piling pressure on the Brazilian leader to do more to protect the forest.
Macron today condemned “extraordinarily rude” comments made about his wife Brigitte by Bolsonaro a day earlier. Bolsonaro hit back, accusing Macron of treating Brazil like “a colony or no-man’s land”.
The row comes as G7 nations meeting in southwestern France agreed to spend $20 million on the Amazon, mainly to send fire-fighting aircraft.
The G7 club also agreed to support a medium-term reforestation plan which will be unveiled at the UN in September.
Brazilian environment minister Ricardo Salles told reporters the G7 funding was welcomed.
Although about 60 percent of the Amazon is in Brazil, the vast forest also spreads over parts of eight other countries or territories.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said yesterday that he would accept international help to combat wildfires raging in his country’s southeast as he suspended his election campaign to deal with the crisis.
The country took delivery Friday of a Boeing 747-400 “supertanker” capable of carrying 150,000 litres of water.
Brazil has accepted help from Israel, which offered to send an aircraft.
Seven states, including Rondonia, have requested the Brazilian army’s help in the Amazon, where more than 43,000 troops have been made available to combat fires.
It is not clear how many of them are actually involved in fire-fighting efforts so far.
On Friday Bolsonaro vowed a “zero tolerance” approach to criminal activities in the Amazon and promised strong action to control the blazes.
Bolsonaro’s delayed response came as the Amazon crisis threatened to torpedo the Mercosur trade deal between the European Union and South American countries, including Brazil.
Thousands have taken to the streets in recent days to denounce the destruction.
Leo Varadkar has threatened that Ireland will vote against the Mercosur trade deal unless Brazil takes steps to protect the Amazon.
The latest official figures show 80,626 forest fires have been recorded in Brazil this year, the highest number of any year since at least 2013.
More than half of the fires are in the massive Amazon basin.
Some 1,113 new fires were ignited across Saturday and Sunday, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
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Cool article. The Brits are hilarious.
@Lisa Saputo: and they make your corps wait wks till burial . We just prefer a 3 day bender
Another tradition is one hundred years old this week, the tradition of Irish Republicans refusing to swear allegiance to the British queen and refusing to take their seats. Surely it’s time FG and FF put their money where their mouth is, run candidates in the north and take their seats in Westminster? Surely if they believe SF should take their seats then they would do the same? Surely they would win seats in the north after all they’ve done for Northern Nationalists? Surely!!
@European Bob: that tradition is not 100 years old. The tradition died out in 1921 when Ireland got its independence, but was started again in the 70s by a splinter faction of the Workers Party calling itself Sinn Fein.
@European Bob: calm down Shirley.
@European Bob: surely you can’t be serious?!
@Big Red: Actually the Workers Party came from Sinn Fein not the other way.
Sinn Fein split into Provisional and Official, the Officials became “Sinn Fein the workers party” then just “The workers Party” from which Democratic Left split, who then merged with (took over) Labour. I think The Workers Party is still around, but I believe that Thomas McGiolla was the last to be elected to any major position.
@European Bob: slight lack of understanding what a republic is, there Bob. A office holder of a republic cannot swear alligeance to any royal of any origin or to any other power that does not eminate for the people of that republic. FF, FG or anyone considering that would have to form an external party, taking note that any crossing of the party whip (over serving office holders) would be illegal and treasonous to that republic. I dont know, but I suspect it’s similar for the house of commons over there.
@Greg Blake: I’d imagine taking up the oath in the UK, would negate any right of SF MPs to direct or influence the voting of any SF TDs.
@Big Red: You might want to recheck your facts there. They are a little bit on the alternative side.
@Big Red: Note to Red, Ireland didn’t get its independence in 1921. 6 counties still occupied.
@European Bob: its a pity it can’t just become another British parliament tradition, where they symbolically deny sinn fein mps entry a few times, and then just let them take their seats…
@Big Red: partial independence
Maintaining all the fuss and feathers of empire is the root cause of the British sense of self importance.
@Kevin Barry: like wearing a shamrock to commemorate a 1,500 year dead kidnap victim Welsh “saint” who drove the non-existent snakes out of Ireland?
@Robin Pickering: you have us on that one. ;-), All countries have their quaint customs, it’s what makes the world interesting. As long as they are harmless, then let them at it.
@Greg Blake: true. Life would be boring if we were all the same.
A total bunch of clowns the lot of them
@Ciarān: word
@Ciarān: Why are they a bunch of clowns?
@jo mixon: Do i need to explain or have you not been following the news for the the last 2 years?!
I knew a village bycicle who loved the black rod
“Right honourable” means a member of the privy council. Nothing to do with ministerial office
@Dave Ringer: that’s correct. Jeffrey Donaldson from the DUP gets referred to as “the right honourable” just because he is on the queen’s privy council. He is not a minister.
I find this very offensive to Blacks & Rods
MPs are traditionally called ‘honourable’, or ‘hon’ for short. They aren’t referred to by name by other members, but by the constituency they represent. The Speaker calls them by name.
A ‘friend’ is an MP in the same party; referring to others, they are just a ‘member’.
‘Right hon’ means the member is a member of the Privy Council; the get the letters PC after their name.
‘Hon and learned’ means the member is a QC, the equivalent of a SC.
‘Hon and gallant’ means the member is a Sir, a knight.
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