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BREAKING: Annual deforestation in the #Amazon is already higher than in 2019, despite still having 1.5 months to end the anual cycle. Data from the Brazilian Space Agency, INPE. Here is how this increase may negatively impact the #COVID19 pandemic in the region:
Deforestation starts with the #forest being bulldozed down. However, the land still cannot be used for pastures or croplands – the #trees are still there, but instead of standing they are laying on the ground.
The felled area is left to dry under the sun for a few weeks to months, till the downed forest becomes dry enough that it can be set on fire. These deforestation #fires produce enormous quantities of smoke as they burn great amounts of biomass: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14872
Smoke arising from #deforestation fires is very toxic and can cause a series of illness, from shortage of breath to severe cough and even the destruction of lung cells:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11024-3#:~:text=The%20PM%20in%20the%20emissions,DNA%20damage%20and%20cell%20death.&text=It%20is%20also%20an%20important,strongly%20impacted%20by%20biomass%20burning.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11024-3#:~:text=The%20PM%20in%20the%20emissions,DNA%20damage%20and%20cell%20death.&text=It%20is%20also%20an%20important,strongly%20impacted%20by%20biomass%20burning.
In yrs when there are numerous fires there's also an increase in hospitalization of #children due to respiratory illness, imposing an increase in costs to the healthcare system and removing adults from the workforce, as children don’t go alone to hospitals https://www.nature.com/articles/srep03726
So far, the #Amazon has been disproportionately impacted by Covid in #Brazil It has the highest number of cases and deaths per 100k inhabitants. It also has an inadequate #healthcare infrastructure, being known as a hospital desert – see maps here: https://infoamazonia.org/pt/?post_type=project&p=51775&preview=true
The combination of the current pandemic and high levels of #smoke is unprecedent and we do not know for sure how they will interact. But evidence from other regions point that exposure to air pollution increases the likelihood of COVID mortality.
While the Brazilian Amazon has not even got out of its first phase of the pandemic, the additional impact of deforestation smoke seems the cherry on top of a very big shit cake. As a Brazilian and as a researcher I am not scared – I am terrified.
