Recently alarms have been sounded about the Amazon burning. It is estimated that there have been over eighty thousand fires in Brazil this year and most are taking place in the Amazon as a result of deforestation. The land is being opened up to accommodate more mining and farming and fire is used to clear the land in some instances. Naturally, wildfires do occur in the Amazon during the dry season, but they are usually minute compared to what is happening now. This year because of the increased deforestation, there have been a record number of fires.
The fires in the Amazon are another example of how we are destroying the Earth. There is evidence to suggest that many people are not thinking about or do not care about the consequences our actions will have on the generations to come. Already, there are intolerable conditions in many parts of the world as many places have been destroyed by war and diseases. There have even been genocides in some places for the Earth’s treasures, such as the mineral coltan, which when refined becomes tantalum and is used in cell phones and other electronics. It is largely found in the Republic of Congo in Africa and resulted in many slaughters there. Many are psychologically and physically impaired because of greed, which often mainly benefits the wealthiest.
Guyana and Brazil are interconnected, so what is happening in the Amazon should concern us. Even though there is enough disturbance and dysfunction locally to keep us in a constant state of worry and despair so that we may have little time to worry about other places, the greed of just a few can result in us encountering a similar situation like Brazil at some point.
Upon hearing about the fires, signing a few petitions, reading statements from the ordinary man about mankind’s degradation, which are all points in a plot to pull us all into the misery and feelings of hopelessness to harness our energies and leave us vulnerable, I thought about end of world theories.
Are we witnessing the prelude to an apocalypse? Will Armageddon come to pass? Some religious doctrine suggests that the end of the world will be in an inferno. It is rather terrifying to imagine, especially if one chooses to constantly think on it; flames ravaging the greatness, disparities and shame of everything mankind has built. All life burning to ashes. And if so, what would have been the point of our existence? We cannot be sure how it all started, but we are here and if there was a beginning, shouldn’t there be an end? Such questions we may never know the answer to and if we constantly ponder, our mental health may be affected.
There are many theories, but with occurrences like fires burning the Amazon coupled with the other mayhem in the world, one has to wonder: What will eventually become of mankind?
I do not believe that there will be an end to the world, but I do believe there may be an end to life as we know it on Earth if we continue with the destructive patterns. Some believe that nature will take its course for the Earth to recover from man’s destruction; therefore, the Earth will remain whether we are here or not. But many current occurrences lead me to wonder about what will happen in the next century. I wonder about what the generations to come will have to endure.
As the Amazon burns, there are lessons for us to learn as Guyanese. While Brazil engages in deforestation, largely for mining, we can use their experiences to guard ourselves. There is no shortage of land here. However, deforestation because of mining poses a threat. I learnt from Conservation International that we have been able to keep our forests intact with low deforestation. In a report last year from the Department of Public Information, it was noted that Guyana recorded the lowest deforestation rates in 2017 of 0.048 since 2010. It was also noted that the drivers of deforestation in Guyana are infrastructure, agriculture, mining and forest fires. This indicates that we, too, can eventually see mass destruction like Brazil if we do not work to maintain our low rates of deforestation. We would be foolish to believe that we would never face such a crisis. As long as mining is still happening, which as aforementioned is the greatest threat to the forests, as long as some of those who are mining do not care or value safe practices, as long as it is greed over preservation, we too are at risk.
It is often not the biggest beneficiaries of the unethical and immoral practices that go into raping the Earth of its resources who suffer the most, but the ordinary man who must dirty their hands. Often, the most powerful, who own the majority of the Earth’s wealth and whose greed continues to drive them, will not stay and burn in the fires, but will escape to where there is calm, where palm trees sway or sand clings to their feet, and where the smoke from their destruction will not cloud their lungs.
While Brazil faces its crisis as do other neighbouring countries, such as Venezuela, we must observe and strive not to make the same or similar mistakes. The responsibility is on all of us to take care of this beautiful space we have been fortunate to be born in. We do not have to be environmentalists or human rights activists, but there are little actions we can take to share information and encourage responsible choices. The desire to make sure we leave a habitable world for generations to come should motivate us.
