Our Lungs Are Burning

A captured moment of the Amazon wild fires by Victor Moriyama.

Did you know that the Amazon Rainforest is known as the “lungs” of our earth? It is still burning, and this will cause a shift in our efforts to fight climate change. Since the Rainforest fires have been producing a ton of greenhouse gases, the earth will be more vulnerable to rises in temperature and global warming. Since trees absorb a portion of the pollution we emit into the earth, less will be absorbed now that the fires have rapidly been tearing through the Rainforest. 

The fires were a big wake-up call to many people. At one point, Brazil was completely dark in the afternoon. This was caused by the amount of smoke emitted even though the fires were a long way away. 

So, what can we do about it? Well, there are pretty easy things we can do to lessen our pollution. Driving less (or try to carpool with a friend if you need to travel), flying less, and eating less meat all contribute in a positive way. But there are so many other things we can do to help our earth in general and I will outline a list of eco-friendly swaps every person needs to do in this moment. 

September 16, 2019 – Written by Shelbi Fisher