The departure of the United States from the Paris Agreement is an obstacle to achieving the goals of the fight against Climate Change. Obviously he is, but Trump is not going to last more than four years in the White House, and because of the winds that are blowing, he may have to leave sooner. In the worst case, its period expires in 2020, the year the Agreement enters into force. At that time, the United States would still have time to catch up with the planet through a new president. In addition, there are states like California, New York and others, willing to continue their environmental programs, as well as some emblematic corporations.
There are more complex situations to solve than the American question. Very serious, perhaps irreversible, such as the rapid deforestation of the two most important forests on Earth, both lungs of the world. Several swords of Damocles also hang over humanity, such as the melting of the poles, the deterioration of coral reefs or the danger of extinction of large mammals with precious tusks or valuable horns, which in a few decades will only be seen in museums or digital media if the ivory and rhino horn merchants cannot be stopped. We can also cite the predation that some homo sapiens commit against whales and fish in rivers, seas and oceans, at a speed that exceeds that of their reproduction. There are dozens of more examples,But today we are only going to focus on the two most important rainforests in the world.
Borneo and the Amazon, two jungles in the process of destruction.
Borneo is in the terminal phase. The island of Southeast Asia, larger than France, has already been depleted by two-thirds in less than 50 years, what took nature millions of years to form, most of it no longer exists. Politically divided into three parts: Malaysia, 26.7%, Indonesia, 72.6% and Brunei less than 1%. In the beginning, the forests covered almost the entire island, with about 18 million inhabitants, and one of the most biodiverse fauna in the world. The once non-combustible rainforest is today an arid place, where large forest fires are frequent and whose regional climate change has already taken place and is of unquestionable human origin. The modification of the climate has affected the entire region, even reaching Australia.
Large tree forests were looted, millions of logs shipped, and Borneo became the world's leading timber exporter. This happened in the last three decades of the 20th century. Then the vacant land was occupied by fields of oil palm cultivation, and the battered island once again became the largest exporter, this time of palm oil. The exogenous plant species contributes nothing to the environment and rather degrades the soils and has been a calamity for hundreds of species that have seen their habitats destroyed, the orangutan being one of the most affected, a symbol of the island due to its once large population. that in record time has entered the local lists of endangered species.
Politics, combined with big business and corruption were the cause of the Borneo tragedy. Humanity did not even know about it and perhaps even today does not know what happened. You only have to ask a friend if they know where Borneo is to hear a silence or a shy no. As Malaysia was depleting its inland forests, Indonesian President Mohammad Suharto distributed large tracts of timber forests to her army generals, to ensure loyalty and their permanence in power (1969-1998). The timber industry and trade grew at speeds never before seen during that period. In the 21st century, regional climate change is consummated and irreversible despite the efforts made by some environmental NGOs. The damage from the "suhartazo" has been too extensive to be repaired.
The Amazon jungle, with an area of about six million km2, could host Spain 12 times. It represents a little more than half of the totality of tropical forests on the planet. It is shared by nine countries, with Brazil and Peru the two with the highest participation. It has one of the richest biodiversity in the world, with about 30% of the planet's species. More than half of the ten million species of insects and plants in the world inhabit the South American rainforest. The Amazon owes its status as the world's lung for playing a key role in regulating carbon dioxide and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.
Amazonas is on the same path of destruction as Borneo, but, having an area eight times larger, the process is slower, less visible and more complex to quantify, although it should be noted that, in recent years, thanks to satellite surveillance and the technique of drones are quantifying the damage of the jungle and its progressive progress. The main causes of deforestation are: the felling of trees to export wood, the burning of vegetation to conquer spaces for livestock, agriculture and the habitats of human conglomerates that work in the forests and consequently multiply houses, paths of penetration, in a slow but constant "favelización" of the forest. Research has determined that tropical forests lose biodiversity not only through deforestation,but because of the growing human presence.
While it is true that in 2006 a moratorium on soybeans was decreed for ten years, deforestation for planting was restarted a year before its conclusion. Furthermore, deforestation for other purposes did not stop during that period. Agricultural production has been responsible for almost 50% of illegal deforestation between 2000 and 2012. A 2014 study revealed that in the two years prior to the moratorium, almost 30% of soybean expansion in the Amazon came at the expense of the deforestation. Just a few days ago, on 06/05/2017, information appeared on Mongabay Latam, a website specialized in environmental issues, according to which, due to the current political crisis in Brazil, Congress would eliminate the protection of 1.2 million hectares of forest to be used for crops,driven by a renewed fever for soybeans and other agricultural products, which may jeopardize efforts made to preserve the biodiversity of the Amazon and thus climate change.
Undoubtedly Brazil, due to the size of the forest, has been the main responsible for its destruction, however, countries with fewer territories do not have their eyes on the future either, as is the case of Bolivia, whose government, in The framework of "food sovereignty" has announced that it will clear 5 million hectares of the Amazon until 2025, equivalent to about 5 million soccer fields, to convert them into agricultural plots. “Around 350 thousand hectares were deforested, on average, every year since 2011, according to the NGO Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia. This figure has increased from the 148 thousand hectares deforested annually in the 1990s and the 270 thousand hectares registered on average during the 2000s ”, according to the newspaper El País, Spain, 09/29/2014.
Amazonas is huge, but it is a system, and therefore it is fragile. Like any systemic entity, each of its components or functions affects the others, although, as we have said, as the process is slower than that of Borneo, changes are not noticeable in short periods. The gigantic variety of species that inhabit the jungle makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to anticipate the events that could occur as a result of a cascading species extinction crisis, which in extremis, could be catastrophic. No mathematical program is capable of predicting the scenarios that may derive from the variations and combinations in the trophic chains as the gigantic number of species goes extinct due to the destruction of their habitats, at the rate that deforestation will set. Thus,it is irresponsible to continue the hostile destruction of forests.
When consulting numerous sources, from different periods on activities in the Amazon, we have found a pattern that repeats itself over time: lack of controls, violations of laws, agreements and truces, exemption from fines for violators, purchases of loyalties, falsification of deforestation permits and invoices to support illegal timber exports, complicity of recipient countries, bribes, double talk from governments and politicians and a complex network of mafias whose tentacles seem to be moving the entire jungle. The last link in the chain is made up of the hitmen. The hitmen are the ones who watch over who can enter the forests and who cannot. They are the ones who have murdered dozens of activists in the Amazon,when they approach places that according to the criteria of organized crime should not observe what they are doing there. As long as the mafias are in control, there will be no treaty, agreement, constitution or environmental police that is worth it. Only when they have been expelled can legislate and apply the law. The bad news is that the mafias have never been able to eradicate themselves from the places where they have embedded. If humanity cannot resolve this situation, the Amazon jungle is sentenced to death. It's just a matter of time.If humanity cannot resolve this situation, the Amazon jungle is sentenced to death. It's just a matter of time.If humanity cannot resolve this situation, the Amazon jungle is sentenced to death. It's just a matter of time.
Sources
- Sue Branford (nd), Caitlin Hackett (translation). Brazil: 1.2 million hectares of forest in danger due to reduction of conservation units. At Mongabay Latam. Retrieved on June 12, 2017 from https: //es.mongabay.com Adario, P. (Greenpeace) (September 29, 2014) The destruction of the Amazon is also your problem. The country. Spain. Retrieved from http: //elpais.com Tabuchi, H., Rigby, C. and White, J. (February 25, 2017) The deforestation of the Amazon returns with force. The New York Times in Spanish. Recovered from
