Apple to donate to Amazon rainforest preservation and restoration efforts

Posted:
in General Discussion edited August 2019
Apple plans to contribute funds to ongoing efforts in the Amazon, which continues to make headlines as a series of devastating wildfires and uncontrolled blazes wreak havoc in the world's largest tropical rainforest.

Amazon
Source: CNN


Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the initiative in a post to his personal Twitter account on Monday.

"It's devastating to see the fires and destruction ravaging the Amazon rainforest, one of the world's most important ecosystems. Apple will be donating to help preserve its biodiversity and restore the Amazon's indispensable forest across Latin America," Cook said in a tweet.

How Apple intends to assist remains unclear, though the company will likely donate funds directly to local non-profits or emergency service organizations working to fight the fires.

The Amazon is suffering from the highest number of recorded fires since at least 2013, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Nearly 80,000 separate incidents have been recorded across the rainforest, a large number of which threaten the highly populated Amazon Basin.

As reported by The New York Times, the INPE's statistics represent a 79 percent increase in fires from the same time in 2017. While fires naturally occur in some areas of the rainforest, humans are for the most part to blame for the Amazon's current condition.

Brazil's Ministry of Defense dispatched about 40,000 troops to the area, as well as two C-130 Hercules aircraft tasked with dousing the flames from above, DW reports.

Cook typically takes to Twitter to announce one-off Apple donations. In 2018, the executive announced $1 million contributions for victims of the Kerala floods in India, relief efforts following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Red Cross activity after the California wild fires and Hurricane Florence.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    An important part of this story is that some countries and organizations have suspended contributions to the Amazon fund. Why? Read here:
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/amazon-fires-global-leaders-urged-divert-brazil-suicide-path

    This is more involved than some fires. 

    edited August 2019 Carnage
  • Reply 2 of 26
    I saw another article bitching about how little money has been raised vs money raised to restore Notre Dame cathedral.

    The problem is the Amazon will burn again next year.  Brazil has decided that ranching is more important than the rainforest.  The solution isn’t just money, Brazil needs to go “all in” on protecting the rainforest.  They need to nail people’s (that start fires) asses to the wall...it’s a question of enforcement.  Can you imagine our response if every year someone lit fires in the Yellowstone National Park? Our response would be the equivalent to the hunt for Osama bin Laden...

    International money can do a lot of things like satellites for detecting fires, equipment to put it out, etc. 

    But, the bottom line is this is a political problem and that’s where international pressure (trade deals, sanctions, tariffs, etc.) come into play.
    AppleExposed
  • Reply 3 of 26
    Magnus919Magnus919 Posts: 3unconfirmed, member
    What ever happened with the promises Apple made to rebuild Notre Dame? Did they ever follow through?
  • Reply 4 of 26
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    If the money is put to good use. Go for it! 
    Flashnews
  • Reply 5 of 26
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    I saw another article bitching about how little money has been raised vs money raised to restore Notre Dame cathedral.

    The problem is the Amazon will burn again next year.  Brazil has decided that ranching is more important than the rainforest.  The solution isn’t just money, Brazil needs to go “all in” on protecting the rainforest.  They need to nail people’s (that start fires) asses to the wall...it’s a question of enforcement.  Can you imagine our response if every year someone lit fires in the Yellowstone National Park? Our response would be the equivalent to the hunt for Osama bin Laden...

    International money can do a lot of things like satellites for detecting fires, equipment to put it out, etc. 

    But, the bottom line is this is a political problem and that’s where international pressure (trade deals, sanctions, tariffs, etc.) come into play.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/16/norway-halts-amazon-fund-donation-dispute-brazil-deforestation-jair-bolsonaro
    Carnage
  • Reply 6 of 26
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,243member
    gatorguy said:
    An important part of this story is that some countries and organizations have suspended contributions to the Amazon fund. Why? Read here:
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/amazon-fires-global-leaders-urged-divert-brazil-suicide-path

    This is more involved than some fires. 

    Fascinating article, and sad. Thanks for linking it.
    It would seem that all the monetary donations in the world won’t stop them from burning the forests intentionally. Only Brazil can stop it, and they don’t seem too interested. 
  • Reply 7 of 26
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    We (the rest of the world) need to boycott and/or apply trade sanctions against the Brazilian beef and other industries there that are the impetus for the burning.  It may not seem fair that industrialized nations like the US over-consumed for a long time  (and still over consume) the earth’s resources, and I’m sure nations like Brazil will point this out while attempting to capitalize on their own natural resources, but awareness finally exists regarding what we’re doing to the planet and the future of all the creatures that share it, so positive action needs to be taken to stop, delay, reverse the obvious damage.  I’m not hopefuL. But beef is off the menu.  One small step.
    mac_dogpropodmuthuk_vanalingamAppleExposedminicoffeeurahara
  • Reply 8 of 26
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,243member
    We (the rest of the world) need to boycott and/or apply trade sanctions against the Brazilian beef and other industries there that are the impetus for the burning.  It may not seem fair that industrialized nations like the US over-consumed for a long time  (and still over consume) the earth’s resources, and I’m sure nations like Brazil will point this out while attempting to capitalize on their own natural resources, but awareness finally exists regarding what we’re doing to the planet and the future of all the creatures that share it, so positive action needs to be taken to stop, delay, reverse the obvious damage.  I’m not hopefuL. But beef is off the menu.  One small step.
    This is from World Atlas.com:

    ”Brazil exported a total of 1,850,000 metric tons of beef in 2016, making it the world’s largest beef exporter. The beef export industry continues to grow each year, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicts that 9 billion people will need to be fed by 2050, which will provide growing markets for the Brazilian beef industry. Hong Kong is the main market for Brazilian beef, followed by China, the European Union, Iran, and Egypt.”

    Clearly, it’s never ending population growth that will continue to increase pressure on resources. That never seems to get mentioned when discussing our environmental issues. 
    mac_dogminicoffee
  • Reply 9 of 26
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    The utter rubbish that gets passed around as truth these days. The Amazon belongs to Brazilians and South Americans and they can do with it whatever they want. Would people in the US sit still if China took us to task over internal US matters? Of course not.
    edited August 2019 cat52
  • Reply 10 of 26
    1st1st Posts: 443member
    start to plant tree and flowers in backyard.... should make it rule that plant 5-10 trees for each kid born... Set quota for beef export. But for Apple, money well spend to breath easy.
    AppleExposedFlashnews
  • Reply 11 of 26
    The utter rubbish that gets passed around as truth these days. The Amazon belongs to Brazilians and South Americans and they can do with it whatever they want. Would people in the US sit still if China took us to task over internal US matters? Of course not.


    Do you truly believe it's that simple given the importance of this forest for the planet?

    muthuk_vanalingamAppleExposedStrangeDaysurahara
  • Reply 12 of 26
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,309member
    The world should rightly be concerned about the Amazon, but let's not forget that the arctic is experiencing extremely high temperatures, a large number of fires, and most threatening, melting permafrost.

    https://www.wired.com/story/the-arctic-carbon-bomb-could-screw-the-climate-even-more

    "That’s the bad news. So here’s even worse news: The Arctic contains much of the world’s permafrost, which holds what the report calls a “sleeping giant” made of greenhouse gases. As the ground warms, the microbes in the soil wake up and start belching greenhouse gases. Estimates vary, but the report says 1.5 trillion tons of carbon dioxide lurk beneath the Earth’s permafrost. That’s more than 40 times as much CO2 as humans released into the atmosphere last year, and double the amount of the gas in the atmosphere today."
    muthuk_vanalingamurahara
  • Reply 13 of 26
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    The world needs to stop its love affair with bloody beef!
    rattlhedAppleExposedStrangeDaysurahara
  • Reply 14 of 26
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    1983 said:
    The world needs to stop its love affair with bloody beef!

    What's the word I'm looking for? Oh, yeah.  It's "no."   
    cat52
  • Reply 15 of 26
    rattlhedrattlhed Posts: 155member
    1983 said:
    The world needs to stop its love affair with bloody beef!
    Agreed, but it won't.  It tastes good, and it's relatively cheap compared to other more sustainable sources of protein.  I wish I could remember where I found it, but I read a study a while back that said the world needs to reduce its meat consumption to 1 hamburger per person per WEEK to curtail the resource demand that the beef industry puts on land.  You think that will ever happen, with 9 billion people coming down the pipeline.

    Until it's cheaper to live responsibly this sh&t show of destroying the earth will continue without stopping.  Humans don't see long term with then have to sacrifice the short term.  Are you going to tell a family of 5 in Hong Kong they have to spend 3x the price of their beef to feed their family because it's the responsible thing to do and their beef shouldn't come from cheap Brazilian rainforest land?  Hell no they won't do it, nor will the billions on the planet that eat beef and want it cheap.  It's truly a no-win game.  This planet is truly doomed, I'm sorry, but those are the facts.  No one will face them as long as we need cheap food and companies are pressured to put profits over responsibility. Good luck in 100 years.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 16 of 26
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    We (the rest of the world) need to boycott and/or apply trade sanctions against the Brazilian beef and other industries there that are the impetus for the burning.  It may not seem fair that industrialized nations like the US over-consumed for a long time  (and still over consume) the earth’s resources, and I’m sure nations like Brazil will point this out while attempting to capitalize on their own natural resources, but awareness finally exists regarding what we’re doing to the planet and the future of all the creatures that share it, so positive action needs to be taken to stop, delay, reverse the obvious damage.  I’m not hopefuL. But beef is off the menu.  One small step.

    The problem isn't the existence of the beef industry.   It's poor farming and ranching practices.   In reality, the problem is more moderate and (shockingly) being used for political purposes.  


    https://reason.com/2019/08/23/dont-panic-amazon-burning-is-mostly-farms-not-forests/ ;


    cat52
  • Reply 17 of 26
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,309member
    sdw2001 said:
    We (the rest of the world) need to boycott and/or apply trade sanctions against the Brazilian beef and other industries there that are the impetus for the burning.  It may not seem fair that industrialized nations like the US over-consumed for a long time  (and still over consume) the earth’s resources, and I’m sure nations like Brazil will point this out while attempting to capitalize on their own natural resources, but awareness finally exists regarding what we’re doing to the planet and the future of all the creatures that share it, so positive action needs to be taken to stop, delay, reverse the obvious damage.  I’m not hopefuL. But beef is off the menu.  One small step.

    The problem isn't the existence of the beef industry.   It's poor farming and ranching practices.   In reality, the problem is more moderate and (shockingly) being used for political purposes.  


    https://reason.com/2019/08/23/dont-panic-amazon-burning-is-mostly-farms-not-forests/ ;


    I'll go with NASA, thanks, rather than a Libertarian version of the "news".

    https://www.space.com/amazon-rainforest-fires-2019-nasa-satellite-views.html

    "As raging fires continue to sweep through the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, NASA satellites and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are tracking the flames from above. Their view confirmed that this is the most active fire year in Brazil since 2010.

    Fire detections by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) on the Aqua satellite have been the highest since the year 2010 so far, with indications that 2019 may hit a record number of fires in the Amazon. NASA has been using MODIS sensors to detect thermal anomalies all over the world since 2003.

    The timing and location of MODIS' fire detections during this year's dry season in the rainforest are more consistent with land clearing than regional drought, Douglas Morton, chief of the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement by NASA.

    muthuk_vanalingamAppleExposedStrangeDays
  • Reply 18 of 26
    1983 said:
    The world needs to stop its love affair with bloody beef!
    No, I don't.
  • Reply 19 of 26
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    tmay said:
    sdw2001 said:
    We (the rest of the world) need to boycott and/or apply trade sanctions against the Brazilian beef and other industries there that are the impetus for the burning.  It may not seem fair that industrialized nations like the US over-consumed for a long time  (and still over consume) the earth’s resources, and I’m sure nations like Brazil will point this out while attempting to capitalize on their own natural resources, but awareness finally exists regarding what we’re doing to the planet and the future of all the creatures that share it, so positive action needs to be taken to stop, delay, reverse the obvious damage.  I’m not hopefuL. But beef is off the menu.  One small step.

    The problem isn't the existence of the beef industry.   It's poor farming and ranching practices.   In reality, the problem is more moderate and (shockingly) being used for political purposes.  


    https://reason.com/2019/08/23/dont-panic-amazon-burning-is-mostly-farms-not-forests/ ;


    I'll go with NASA, thanks, rather than a Libertarian version of the "news".

    https://www.space.com/amazon-rainforest-fires-2019-nasa-satellite-views.html

    "As raging fires continue to sweep through the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, NASA satellites and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are tracking the flames from above. Their view confirmed that this is the most active fire year in Brazil since 2010.

    Fire detections by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) on the Aqua satellite have been the highest since the year 2010 so far, with indications that 2019 may hit a record number of fires in the Amazon. NASA has been using MODIS sensors to detect thermal anomalies all over the world since 2003.

    The timing and location of MODIS' fire detections during this year's dry season in the rainforest are more consistent with land clearing than regional drought, Douglas Morton, chief of the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement by NASA.


    The Reason article actually quotes NASA. Did you read it, or just dismiss it because you hate the site?   It would seem it's the latter.   First, excessive land clearing is absolutely a "poor farming and ranching practice."  Do you not agree?  

    Secondly, the statement about fires being "more consistent" with land clearing isn't exactly a firm indication of cause.  It's a vague and somewhat subjective assertion that could show correlation at best.

    Moreover, the data provided in the article (from the NYT) clearly shows that deforestation rates have decreased over the past 20 years....dramatically.   Simply blaming the fires on Big Beef, cLiMaTe ChAnGe or even just deforestation is simplistic, narrow-minded, and exactly the kind of political BS we've come to expect in our media.   This is nothing new, however.  

    The same hysteria hit the United States in the 1980's and 90's.  "Deforestation" by Big Lumber was going to destroy the environment and the entire nation.  Simple-minded politicians did what was politically expedient and put through huge "protections" on federal land. The lumber companies were no longer allowed to cut old growth in many places, which is another way of saying they weren't allowed to go in and cut out all the dead wood.  The result?  Increased fires.  Go figure.   Obviously the Amazon is a different situation....I'm not directly comparing them.  What I am saying is that the issue and solutions are complex.  The calls for boycotts, ending beef, sanctions and more are just more environmental hysteria.  


    cat52
  • Reply 20 of 26
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    "What a greedy company!!!!!!11"

    rattlhed said:
    1983 said:
    The world needs to stop its love affair with bloody beef!
    Agreed, but it won't.  It tastes good, and it's relatively cheap compared to other more sustainable sources of protein.  I wish I could remember where I found it, but I read a study a while back that said the world needs to reduce its meat consumption to 1 hamburger per person per WEEK to curtail the resource demand that the beef industry puts on land.  You think that will ever happen, with 9 billion people coming down the pipeline.

    Until it's cheaper to live responsibly this sh&t show of destroying the earth will continue without stopping.  Humans don't see long term with then have to sacrifice the short term.  Are you going to tell a family of 5 in Hong Kong they have to spend 3x the price of their beef to feed their family because it's the responsible thing to do and their beef shouldn't come from cheap Brazilian rainforest land?  Hell no they won't do it, nor will the billions on the planet that eat beef and want it cheap.  It's truly a no-win game.  This planet is truly doomed, I'm sorry, but those are the facts.  No one will face them as long as we need cheap food and companies are pressured to put profits over responsibility. Good luck in 100 years.

    Ever tried Impossible Beef? That stuff is freaking GOOD!! I was craving a burger the other day and decided Impossible would be better.

    The other problem is people are legit morons. When I tell them I'm skipping meat or over-consumption of something to help balance the Earth, they look at me like I'm the stupid one while they stuff their faces with McDonalds.

    Media is fu**ing powerful and they've taught us what to buy and how to use it. I've seen people put sugar in EVERYTHING and oil in crap that is already using it.

    The problem with over-consumption of animal products is the animals become a commodity that need to be rushed to slaughter and are abused their entire lives. I've seen videos of toys dumped from machines, mass amounts of pigs in tiny cages, chicks getting grounded alive, getting their beaks chopped off and baby piglets being slammed into hard concrete while squealing.

    1983 said:
    The world needs to stop its love affair with bloody beef!
    No, I don't.

    Mmmm mah Beefs!


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