Experts: Rain Will Not Put Out Amazon Fires for Weeks

 

As large parts of the Amazon burn, weather experts are warning that rainfall is unlikely¹ to put out the fires in the coming weeks.

The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest.

Brazil’s National Space Research Institute studies deforestation -- the clearing or removal² of trees from the area. It reports that the number of fires has risen by 85 percent to more than 77,000 in the past year. That is the most since the research center began keeping records in 2013.

The fires are not limited to Brazil. At least 10,000 square kilometers of land are burning in Bolivia, near its border with Brazil and Paraguay.

Brazil’s government has deployed³ troops and military airplanes as part of firefighting efforts. But they will only be able to put out smaller fires and help to prevent new fires, experts say. The larger fires can only be put out by heavy rain.

The rainy season in the Amazon usually begins in late September. It takes weeks to build to widespread, heavy rains throughout the area.

The little rain that will fall in the next 15 days will be in areas that need it the least, says Maria Silva Dias. She is a professor of atmospheric⁴ sciences at the University of Sao Paulo.

Little rainfall is expected in the parts of the Amazon that are experiencing the worst fires, she added. “The whole area needs it to rain more…and this will only happen further down the line, around October,” she said.

Heavy rain has to fall in a short enough period to put out a fire. If there is little rainfall, the water changes from a liquid to a gas and rises as moisture⁵ in the air, Dias explained. She estimated⁶ it would take at least 20 millimeters⁷ of rain within 1-2 hours to put out a forest fire, with more required for the larger ones.

“In some areas, it could reduce the fires, not in general,” notes Matias Sales. He is a weather expert with the weather information company Climatempo.

Dias said that she hoped Brazil’s military would help to prevent new fires, but putting out existing fires is difficult work.

Firefighting work

In the Amazon, Brazilian firefighters wear rubber backpacks equipped with water hoses⁹ as a truck carries them toward¹⁰ heavy smoke. A guide flying in a military helicopter directs them to a fast-spreading fire.

A landowner opens an entrance to the property, and the firefighters set to work. They put out a fire they believe was set by farmers to prepare land for crops. When their water supply runs out, they create a fire break. This involves removing small plants with machetes and chainsaws to clear a space where the fire will not burn.

An Associated Press, AP, team watched the firefighters near the Jacunda national forest in the Amazonian state of Rondonia.

The AP team drove for hours on roads outside the state capital of Porto Velho without seeing any major fires. It appeared that the fires had burned themselves out. Many fires had been set on already deforested areas to clear the land for farming.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has said he might visit the Amazon this week to see the firefighting efforts. He also said that he would send 44,000 troops to fight the fires. However, on Monday, there were only a few soldiers on the roads in the area.

On a recent morning at sunrise, the sun was hidden behind thick smoke that fell like fog. Trucks carrying freshly cut trees sped along a road that cut through lands where ash hid and freshly burned trees lay on the ground.

Some Brazilians seemed to understand both sides of the argument: The fires are destroying their environment; but many people need to use the Amazon’s rich natural resources to earn money.

“The government has to help small farmers more…and take care of the large reserves, where people do most of the illegal things,” said Willian Sabara Dos Santos, who heads a farm. Behind him, a Brazilian flag waved in the wind.

In a nearby village, Darcy Rodrigo De Souza walked into a store where people drank coffee and ate Pao de Queijo, traditional Brazilian cheese bread.

“We have many problems with the fires. But we also depend on the wood for our economy. If it wasn’t for that, there would be nothing,” said De Souza.

“It’s true that the Amazon has to be protected, but this president is going to protect it. The Americans want us to protect Brazil. But why don’t they protect their (land)?” he asked.

Environmentalists say the Amazon’s forests are an important defense¹¹ against climate change. About 60 percent of the Amazon is in Brazil. The rest can found in parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

moisture – n. wetness; a gaseous¹² form of water or other liquid

backpack – n. a piece of equipment carried on a person’s back

hose⁸ – n. a tube or pipe used to carry water, often for watering plants and in firefighting

machete – n. a large, heavy knife that is used for cutting plants and as a weapon

chainsaw – n. a tool that cuts wood that is driven by a motor and made up of many connected sharp metal teeth

reserve – n. a large amount of land that cannot be built on or changed in any way

1 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

2 removal   

n.去除，消除；挪走，移走，搬迁

参考例句：

• After the removal of the soup,fish was served.汤撤去后，鱼就上来了。
• The factory announced its removal to another town.这家工厂宣布迁往另一座城镇。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

5 moisture   

n.水分；降雨量；水气；湿气

参考例句：

• This tree drank up more moisture than that one.这棵树吸收的水分比那棵树多。
• The moisture in the air makes it humid today.今天空气中水气大，天气很潮湿。

6 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

7 millimeters   

n.毫米( millimeter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The creature is a tiny centipede, just 10 millimeters long. 那个生物是一只很小的蜈蚣，只有10毫米长。 来自辞典例句
• This machine part was built to a tolerance of 0.01 millimeters. 这一机器部件的制造公差是0.01毫米。 来自辞典例句

8 hose   

n.输水软管，长统袜；vt.浇园子，用管冲洗

参考例句：

• Connect the hose to the tap and turn on the tap.把水管接在龙头上，打开水龙头。
• After raining,I always hose the yard out.雨后，我总是用软管把院子冲干净。

9 hoses   

n.连裤袜( hose的名词复数 )；长统袜；软管；胶管

参考例句：

• The fireman trained their hoses on the burning building. 消防队员把水龙带对准燃烧的建筑物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Are there any fire hoses in the building? 在这幢大楼里有消防水管吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 gaseous   

adj.气体的，气态的

参考例句：

• Air whether in the gaseous or liquid state is a fluid.空气，无论是气态的或是液态的，都是一种流体。
• Freon exists both in liquid and gaseous states.氟利昂有液态和气态两种形态。