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14 Mar 1998
Drastic man made changes to the global ecosystem could be behind the
unprecedented wildfires sweeping across northern Brazil today. An area
of forest and pasture twice the size of Belgium(55,000) has already
been affected. Twelve thousand cattle have died, 30 per cent of local
crops have been destroyed, tens of thousands of hectares of forest have
been burned and ancient tribes, including the Yanomami, are threatened.
There are few prospects for local fire fighters to bring the blazes
under control.
The fires are burning especially fiercely because of severe drought
linked to the El Nino ocean warming phenomenon. The present very pronounced
El Nino effect was also responsible for the recent huge forest fires
suffered by Indonesia. According to Robert May,Mr Tony Blair's chief
scientist, El Nino's present severity could in turn be linked to human-induced
climate change.
Friends of the Earth believes that the combination of global climate
change and its impacts on agriculture, forests and other ecosystems
could signal the start of an "ecological meltdown".
Tony Juniper, Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth, said :
“These fires are possibly the worst ever. They are taking a terrible
economic, human and ecological toll. How much longer can world leaders
be complacent about the threat posed to people world wide by the worsening
state of the global enviroment?
Friends of the Earth will be writing to Mr Blair on Monday to remind
him of Britain's role in importing illegally felled timber from the
Amazon, to make sure that climate change and deforestation are on the
G8 agenda and to provide urgent assistance to Brazil to bring the fires
under control.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
