Category: International

Australia Forest Fire Global International RFMRC-SEA

Australia fires: NSW towns cut off by bushfire as Queensland residents told to leave

Australian Associated Press |

Fire north of Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast doubles in size, burning through more than 11,560 hectares
• ‘Absolutely suffocating’: how are you affected by smoke haze from Australia’s bushfires?

 

Residents face a nervous wait on Monday night as gusty, strong winds whip-up a blaze in the New South Wales Shoalhaven area which remains at emergency warning level.

The fire north of Batemans Bay has burnt through more than 16,000 hectares and was spreading quickly in a north-easterly direction towards coastal communities.

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Brazil climate change INDONESIA International RFMRC-SEA

Forest Fire Emissions From Indonesia Worse Than Amazon, EU Says

By

Fires that destroyed Indonesian rainforests pumped out more carbon dioxide than the blazes in the Amazon this year, according to the European Union’s atmosphere observation program.

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Environment Forest Fire International RFMRC-SEA

South America forest fires could disrupt rainfall in region’s farm belt: experts

Monica Machicao | October 9, 2019
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (Reuters) – Forest fires that swept across Bolivia and Brazil this year could disrupt rainfall distribution across South America’s grains-and-beef producing regions in unpredictable ways for years to come, a scientist and meteorologist said

Recent rains in both countries have helped put out the wildfires, which were likely started by farmers and ranchers using slash-and-burn agricultural methods.

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Brazil Forest Fire International RFMRC-SEA Wildfire

Bolivia Is Fighting Major Forest Fires Nearly As Large As In Brazil

Six volunteer firefighters use machetes to cut a path through the vines and underbrush of the Chiquitano forest in Bolivia’s eastern lowlands. They’re approaching the leading edge of a fire that’s been burning for hours.

They attempt to smother it with shovelfuls of dirt and water they carry on their backs in tanks normally used to fumigate crops. But the smoke is getting thicker, the heat stronger and swirling winds push the flames forward. Realizing they are overmatched, José Zapata, the only trained firefighter among the group, orders his men to pull out.

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Brazil Global International RFMRC-SEA

This Is How The Million-Dollar Business Of Criminal Deforestation In The Amazon Works

BuzzFeed News visited one of the regions worst affected by fires in the Amazon to see how illegal deforestation is paving the way for a global environmental crisis.
Tatiana Farah | September 4, 2019

 

APUÍ, Brazil — A vigorous and incredibly lucrative trade in land for livestock is fueling the fires that have devastated the Amazon and caused an international outcry.

BuzzFeed News toured one of the areas most affected by fires in the Amazon and found that, according to farmers, one hectare of land cleared for cattle is changing hands for 20 times the price of the same area with standing forest.

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Forest Fire Global International RFMRC-SEA Wildfire

The Amazon, Siberia, Indonesia: A World of Fire

By Kendra Pierre-Louis
The growing intensity of wildfires and their spread to new corners of the globe raises fears that climate change is exacerbating the dangers.

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In South America, the Amazon basin is ablaze. Halfway around the world in central Africa, vast stretches of savanna are going up in flame. Arctic regions in Siberia are burning at a historic pace.

While the Brazilian fires have grown into a full-blown international crisis, they represent only one of many significant areas where wildfires are currently burning around the world. Their increase in severity and spread to places where fires were rarely previously seen is raising fears that climate change is exacerbating the danger.

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Brazil International RFMRC-SEA

Amazon fires: Brazilian rainforest burning at record rate, space agency warns

21 August 2019

Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has seen a record number of fires this year, according to new data from the country’s space research agency.

The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) said its satellite data showed an 83% increase on the same period in 2018.

It comes weeks after President Jair Bolsonaro fired the head of the agency amid rows over its deforestation data.

Smoke from the fires caused a blackout in the city of Sao Paulo on Monday.

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International RFMRC-SEA Turkey

Forest fire destroys over 1,200 acres of land

İZMİR-Anadolu Agency | 19 August 2019

 

Forest fires have consumed some 500 hectares (over 1,200 acres) of land in İzmir, Turkey’s Aegean coast, an official said on Aug. 19.

On Aug. 18, the fires broke out in four different regions- including two in the southwestern Muğla province and others in Izmir province, according to Agriculture and Forest Ministry.

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International RFMRC-SEA

Forest fires draw partisan reports from Turkish press

Michael Mackenzie | Aug 18 2019

 

After a year when its news agenda has rarely slowed down from its breakneck pace, Turkey had a week of calm for the Feast of the Eid al-Adha holiday last week. During this welcome break from a frenzied political agenda, Turks also received the good news that their tourism sector had capped a strong couple of years with an excellent performance over the holiday period, with hotels in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions reportedly booked to capacity.

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Global International RFMRC-SEA

Putin orders Russian military to fight forest fires in Siberia

By Jim Heintz The Associated Press
31 July 2019

The Russian military on Wednesday joined efforts to fight forest fires that have engulfed nearly 30,000 square kilometers of territory in Siberia and the Russian Far East — an area the size of Belgium.

The move, which includes sending military transport planes and helicopters that can drop water on fires, came after an order from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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