Apple to donate to Amazon rainforest preservation and restoration efforts
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.
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.
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.
Comments
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/amazon-fires-global-leaders-urged-divert-brazil-suicide-path
This is more involved than some fires.
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.
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.
”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.
Do you truly believe it's that simple given the importance of this forest for the planet?
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."
What's the word I'm looking for? Oh, yeah. It's "no."
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.
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/ ;
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.
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.
Mmmm mah Beefs!