亞馬遜雨林的大火已經(jīng)持續(xù)燃燒整整三個(gè)星期了，這并非偶然。關(guān)于這場(chǎng)大火，還有哪些是你應(yīng)該知道的？

亞馬遜是否經(jīng)常發(fā)生火災(zāi)？

亞馬遜從每年7月和8月起進(jìn)入旱季，旱季通常會(huì)持續(xù)到11月中旬，在這期間，火災(zāi)是很常見的。不過來自于巴西國家空間研究所的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，今年巴西已經(jīng)發(fā)生了超過7.2萬起火災(zāi)，其中半數(shù)以上發(fā)生在亞馬遜地區(qū)。較上年同期增長了84%。

據(jù)美國國家海洋和大氣管理局介紹，眾所周知，亞馬遜雨林的濕度較大，通常不容易被野火引起火災(zāi)。近期的亞馬遜大火，與當(dāng)?shù)氐霓r(nóng)牧民利用旱季燒林開荒，以求放牧牲畜有很大關(guān)系。結(jié)果不僅燒毀了大面積的雨林，也對(duì)生活在那里的土著社區(qū)造成了影響。

亞馬遜雨林發(fā)生火災(zāi)的原因是什么？

目前，整個(gè)亞馬遜地區(qū)一共有9500多處起火點(diǎn)。

毀林開荒，也就是燒毀林木，將土地轉(zhuǎn)為其他用途，是導(dǎo)致這些火災(zāi)的主要原因。目前發(fā)生在亞馬遜地區(qū)的毀林行為大多是非法的。

一個(gè)叫“亞馬遜觀察”的非政府組織在一份報(bào)告中指出，農(nóng)業(yè)和農(nóng)產(chǎn)品國際貿(mào)易，是導(dǎo)致巴西大面積毀林開荒的主要推動(dòng)力，毀掉的林地有75%以上被用于養(yǎng)牛或種植大豆。大豆和牛肉已經(jīng)成了巴西的主要出口產(chǎn)品之一，而它們都是“危害雨林”的產(chǎn)品。巴西出口的大豆和牛肉多都銷往了中國、歐盟和美國。

綠色和平組織表示，氣候變化和毀林開荒也會(huì)加劇干旱。森林火災(zāi)會(huì)導(dǎo)致溫室氣體排放量增加，進(jìn)而導(dǎo)致全球氣溫上升。隨著溫度的升高，嚴(yán)重的干旱會(huì)更加頻繁發(fā)生，甚至?xí)娱L雨林的旱季。

雖然存在以上因素，然而巴西的極右翼總統(tǒng)博索納羅卻在上周三聲稱，這次亞馬遜的森林大火是環(huán)保組織放的，原因是對(duì)政府削減了對(duì)他們的撥款不滿。當(dāng)然，博索納羅的這些指責(zé)并沒有任何證據(jù)能夠證明。

對(duì)巴西自然環(huán)境的不斷惡化，政府是難辭其咎的。

巴西綠色和平組織的公共政策協(xié)調(diào)員馬西奧·阿斯特里尼稱，博索納羅的聲明“是為了掩蓋他所采取的反環(huán)境政策的后果。有些人抨擊他的政府是環(huán)境問題的罪魁禍?zhǔn)祝倪@些指責(zé)，只是為了把責(zé)任推給抨擊他的人。”

目前在亞馬遜燃燒的大火多數(shù)是人為造成的，而且主要是出于農(nóng)業(yè)目的。放火的人大多是本地的農(nóng)牧民或伐木工人。就在這個(gè)月，不少農(nóng)民還參加了在亞馬遜地區(qū)的一條主干道附近舉行的“放火日”活動(dòng)。綠色和平組織表示，這場(chǎng)活動(dòng)導(dǎo)致該地區(qū)的火災(zāi)增加了300%。

一些專家和環(huán)保人士認(rèn)為，目前亞馬遜大火的失控之勢(shì)，與博索納羅的排外主義和反環(huán)保主義政策有關(guān)。毀林開荒不僅破壞了雨林，也對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)氐耐林鐓^(qū)造成了影響。在前總統(tǒng)迪爾瑪·羅塞夫和米歇爾·泰梅爾任內(nèi)，雖然也有破壞雨林的問題，但這種行為在過去8個(gè)月里出現(xiàn)了急劇增長。

自從今年博索納羅上臺(tái)以來，他的政府一再減少對(duì)環(huán)保領(lǐng)域的投入，同時(shí)還削減了環(huán)境部門和維護(hù)土著居民權(quán)利部門的工作人員。

最近，博索納羅還炒了巴西國家空間研究所（INPE）負(fù)責(zé)人的魷魚。在此不久前，INPE剛剛發(fā)布了一份報(bào)告，顯示在博索納羅任內(nèi)，巴西的毀林開荒率有所提高。博索納羅對(duì)記者表示：“在我看來，公布這些數(shù)字的目的，就是為了損害巴西和巴西政府的聲譽(yù)。”

博索納羅政府還砍掉了巴西環(huán)境執(zhí)法局的2300萬美元經(jīng)費(fèi)。為了刺濟(jì)經(jīng)濟(jì)，發(fā)展農(nóng)業(yè)、礦業(yè)和化石能源開采等產(chǎn)業(yè)，政府還取消了一些旨在保護(hù)亞馬遜雨林的政策。

《巴西土著人之聲》稱，在博索納羅的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，土著人的土地遭到“攻擊和入侵”的情況愈加嚴(yán)重，針對(duì)土著社區(qū)的種族主義傾向也日益加重。一些土著權(quán)利組織表示，博索納羅的反環(huán)保主義立場(chǎng)，是導(dǎo)致土著社區(qū)遭受土地爭(zhēng)端和暴力的主要原因。

亞馬遜觀察的財(cái)務(wù)活動(dòng)主任莫伊拉·伯斯對(duì)《財(cái)富》雜志表示，博索納羅“發(fā)表過一些極端排外主義言論，比如土著社區(qū)應(yīng)該被清除等等。對(duì)于那些愿意用暴力手段驅(qū)逐亞馬遜原住民以獲取利潤的人來說，這些言論顯然助長了他們的氣焰。”

大火對(duì)地球有何影響？

亞馬遜雨林制造了全球20%以上的氧氣。因此，亞馬遜大火不僅僅會(huì)影響巴西，還會(huì)影響整個(gè)地球。

很多人將亞馬遜雨林稱為“地球之肺”，它對(duì)氣候起著重要的調(diào)節(jié)作用，對(duì)于農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)、飲用水等方面也起著不可替代的作用。目前，亞馬遜的毀林開荒速度很可能帶來不可逆的后果。有科學(xué)家表示，亞馬遜雨林甚至有可能“退化成一個(gè)干旱的大草原”。

伯斯表示：“亞馬遜雨林是穩(wěn)定氣候的一個(gè)重要的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。這些樹木一旦被砍伐被燒掉，它們存儲(chǔ)的碳就會(huì)被釋放出來，而它們從大氣中吸收碳的能力就會(huì)消失。”他還表示，盡管通過重新造林讓亞馬遜雨林恢復(fù)原貌并非不可能，但這個(gè)過程也需要幾個(gè)世紀(jì)的時(shí)間。

而地球卻沒有這么長的時(shí)間可以等待了。

全球變暖是當(dāng)前全球人口面臨的最主要的威脅之一。隨著全球氣溫持續(xù)上升，地球更加需要樹木來吸收空氣中的碳。地球上最大的雨林的消失，對(duì)人類必然有害無益。

巴西綠色和平組織的一位呼吁保護(hù)亞馬遜雨林的環(huán)保人士羅穆羅·巴蒂斯塔表示：“森林火災(zāi)和氣候變化是一種惡性循環(huán)：隨著火災(zāi)數(shù)量的增加，溫室氣體的排放量也在增加，使地球的總體溫度進(jìn)一步上升，進(jìn)而導(dǎo)致了嚴(yán)重干旱等極端災(zāi)難性天氣的發(fā)生。”

亞馬遜大火能被撲滅嗎？

有專家表示，國際政治壓力可能是阻止當(dāng)前亞馬遜地區(qū)大規(guī)模毀林活動(dòng)的唯一方法。伯斯表示：“國際上的壓力要足夠大，迫使政府不得不作出回應(yīng)。”

聯(lián)合國秘書長和世界各國的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人已經(jīng)對(duì)亞馬遜大火表示了關(guān)注。

法國總統(tǒng)馬克龍呼吁在G7峰會(huì)期間，就亞馬遜事態(tài)進(jìn)行緊急會(huì)談。馬克龍的發(fā)言人表示，由于巴西政府對(duì)大火應(yīng)對(duì)不力，法國將阻止今年早些時(shí)候達(dá)成的歐盟—南方共同市場(chǎng)貿(mào)易協(xié)定。對(duì)此，伯斯表示，如果貿(mào)易協(xié)定在沒有保護(hù)亞馬遜雨林的情況下繼續(xù)推進(jìn)，“那將是給博索納羅開綠燈。”

愛爾蘭總理瓦拉德卡也表達(dá)了對(duì)亞馬遜大火的關(guān)心，德國和挪威也將停止向巴西政府的亞馬遜基金捐款。

然而問題要想徹底解決，就需要采取更廣泛、更積極的行動(dòng)，包括恢復(fù)對(duì)亞馬遜的保護(hù)和重新植樹造林等，同時(shí)要追究從毀林中獲利的金融企業(yè)的責(zé)任。同時(shí)，那些從巴西進(jìn)口牛肉、家禽和大豆的國家也應(yīng)重新檢討他們的貿(mào)易政策。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

The Amazon rainforest has been on fire for the past three weeks, and it’s no accident. Here’s what you should know:

How often does the Amazon burn?

Fires are common in the Amazon during the region’s dry season, which typically starts in July and August and ends in mid-November. But this year there have been more than 72,000 fires across the country, with more than half of those occurring in the Amazon. That’s an 84% increase from the same period last year, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, or INPE.

The Amazon is known to produce moisture and humidity, making it relatively resistant to wildfires, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Instead, it seems that a combination of droughts, and ranchers and farmers taking advantage of the dry season to burn and clear land for cattle, are to blame. The result is significant harm to both the rainforest, and the indigenous communities who live there.

What are the causes of the Amazon forest fires?

There are currently about 9,500 fires raging across the Amazon.

Deforestation, or the removal of forest and trees to convert land for non-forest use, is the main cause of the fires, and much of the deforestation currently happening in the Amazon is illegal.

The farming industry and international trade relationships are the main drivers of deforestation, more than 75% of which is caused by cattle ranching and soy production, according to a report from the NGO Amazon Watch. Soy beans and beef, two of Brazil’s main exports, are “forest-risk commodities” and most of it is going to China, the European Union, and the United States.

Droughts caused both by climate change and deforestation are also part of the problem, according to Greenpeace. The forest fires are contributing to higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions, which lead to global temperatures rising. As these temperatures rise, major droughts become more frequent and can extend the forest’s dry season.

Despite these factors, Brazil’s far right President Jair Bolsonaro claimed on last Wednesday that NGOs were to blame for the wildfires in the Amazon. He said, without proof, that they were starting the fires because his government had cut their funding.

But the country’s government is at the center of the increasingly violent environmental degradation.

Márcio Astrini the public policy coordinator with Greenpeace Brazil called Bolsonaro’s statement “an attempt to conceal himself from the consequences of the anti-environmental policy he has been adopting.” Astrini added, “His accusation seeks to blame anyone who denounces the environmental problems created by his own administration.”

The fires burning across the Amazon right now are mostly agricultural and man-made, many of them started either by smallholders, loggers, or farmers who are clearing land for cattle. Just this month, farmers participated in a “Day of Fire” around a main road in the Amazon, which Greenpeace says caused a 300% increase in fires in the area.

Experts and activists see the current onslaught as related to Bolsonaro’s xenophobic and anti-environmental rhetoric, as deforestation is not only destroying the rainforest, but indigenous communities, as well. Deforestation was also a problem under the previous presidents Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer, but it has grown rapidly over the last eight months.

Since Bolsonaro took office this year, his administration has repeatedly rolled back environmental protections, cutting the staffing of both environmental and indigenous rights agencies.

The president recently fired the head of the INPE, the agency that tracks deforestation in the country, after it released a report showing the higher rates of deforestation under his administration. “The numbers, as I understand it, were released with the objective of harming the name of Brazil and its government,” Bolsonaro told reporters.

Bolsonaro’s government also cut $23 million from Brazil’s environmental enforcement agency, while dismantling policies that protect the Amazon in favor of advancing economic priorities, including agribusiness, mining, and fossil fuel extraction.

According to the Articulation of the Indigenous People of Brazil, under Bolsonaro’s leadership, “attacks and invasions” of indigenous lands have been on the rise, as has racism against Native communities. Some indigenous rights groups say the president’s anti-environmental stances are contributing to the land disputes and violence faced by their communities.

Bolsonaro “has said extremely xenophobic things about indigenous communities needing to be wiped out,” Moira Birss, Amazon Watch’s Finance Campaign Director told Fortune. “It’s clearly emboldening actors in the Amazon who are willing to use violence to remove” Native communities in favor of making a profit.

What do these forest fires mean for the planet?

The Amazon rainforest generates more than 20% of the world’s oxygen, meaning these fires will not only affect Brazil, but the entire planet.

Often referred to as the “l(fā)ungs of the planet,” the Amazon plays an important role in balancing the climate, from farming to drinking water. The impacts of the current rate of deforestation could be irreversible, as scientists say the Amazon could “degrade into a dry savannah.”

“The Amazon is a vital ecosystem for climate stability,” said Birss. “When trees are cut down or burned down, all that carbon they’ve been storing is released and their ability to keep taking in carbon from the atmosphere is eliminated.” Birss says that while reforestation could happen and restore the Amazon to its old growth, the process would also take centuries.

And the planet doesn’t have much time.

Global warming is one of the greatest threats to the world population right now, and the planet needs trees to absorb carbon as global temperatures continue to rise. The loss of its biggest rainforest would be detrimental.

“Forest fires and climate change operate in a vicious cycle: as the number of fires increase, so do greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the planet’s overall temperature and the occurrence of extreme weather events, such as major droughts,” said Romulo Batista, an Amazon campaigner with Greenpeace Brazil.

Can the Amazon fires be stopped?

Experts say international political pressure may be the only way to stop the current onslaught on the Amazon. “The scale is one that requires a governmental response,” said Birss.

The UN secretary general and world leaders have expressed concern.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for emergency talks to put the state of the Amazon at the top of the agenda ahead of G7 summit. A spokesperson for the French president said France would block the EU-Mercosur trade deal reached earlier this year due to the Brazilian government’s response to the fires. If the trade deal moves forward without conditions for protecting the Amazon, Birss says, “that’s going to give a greenlight to Bolsonaro.”

Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar echoed the same sentiment, while Germany and Norway are halting donations to the Brazilian government's Amazon fund.

But the problem will require taking broader and more aggressive actions, including restoring Amazon protections and reforestation, while also holding accountable the financial companies that profit from deforestation. Likewise, governments importing beef, poultry, and soy from Brazil will need to review their trade policies.