Yadvinder Malhi photograph

Yadvinder Malhi

Use attributes for filter !
Gender Female
Born High Wycombe
United Kingdom
Known forFluxNet
Institutions University of Oxford
The University of Edinburgh
University of Reading
Awards Royal Society University Research Fellowship
Patron's Medal
Date of Reg.
Date of Upd.
ID926113
Send edit request

Yadvinder Malhi Life story


Yadvinder Singh Malhi FRS is Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford and a Jackson Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford.

Amazon rain forest-fires: Ten readers ' questions answered

Feb 16,2020 5:35 am

Inpe said it had discovered More Than 72,000 fires so far this Year

parts of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil are On Fire .

of The sky in São Paulo turned black by Smoke Drift, away from the fires of 2,700 km (1,700 miles). blame the fires on his policy.

But it is a complex story, and online discussion, it was riddled with misinformation, misleading photos, and errors. We have asked you to send us your questions using the Amazon fires, so we were able to fill in the gaps and clarify some of the most common myths.

We selected a sample of the many questions we receive and, where we do not know The Answer , we enrolled The Experts .

1) Why there is Fire ? Is it to do Bolsonaro men there to clear the rain forest for mining/Farming Etc ? - Alex

Brazilian journalist Silio Boccanera argued that some of the fires is to be expected at This Time of Year is the Dry Season in Brazil - are to. But many of the fires is suspected to be the Amazon have been started deliberately.

President Bolsonaro not condemned deforestation and supports clearing the Amazon for agriculture and mining.

"So it is a combination of natural phenomena with native feeling, to do comfortable enough, it is because the government has not made any effort to prevent it," Mr. Boccanera said.

The Smoke through the rain forest, He thinks that smaller groups of People are responsible for the commissioning of the fires as large companies beef and soy sold, could run The Risk of being boycotted.

Although the big corporations are not innocent, you are better informed, he says.

But also smaller groups - who benefits from the destruction of areas of forest for agriculture, have gone ahead because it was not stopped by the authorities, Mr. Boccanera explained.

Although deliberate Fire -starting has always been a problem, it has never seen to this extent. Mr. Boccanera said the offenders now know that if you are caught, you will not be punished.

2) The Number of fires seems like a poor metric, because the size of the fires varied. There are Year -to-Year affected the data on the entire area? - Peter

This is a fair point. On 20 August, Brazil 's satellite Agency said there had been an 84% increase in The Number of fires compared with the same period in the Year 2018. It is the highest value since 2010, but significantly less than in the Year 2005 during the same time period, if The Number of The Fire was at its highest.

This Year , the satellite Agency discovered More Than 74,000 fires in Brazil Between January and 20. August. Most of them were reported in the Amazon , and the New York Times, the majority of these fires were on land already in the release for agricultural use.

however, this means more land is burned, than ever before? After All , we could search tens of thousands of small fires.

The Truth is, we don't know it yet, but The Evidence will suggest that consumed in the direction of the country from The Fire .

We don't have the full picture at the moment, partly because many fires are Still Burning . We asked Copernicus of the European Union 's earth observation program, and she said The Best way to assess how destructive these fires are, is to look at how much carbon dioxide is released.

So far this Year , the equivalent of 228 mega tons, was published, according to the Copernicus atmosphere Monitoring Service. This is the highest level since 2010.

sometime in The Future , more detailed satellite had burned out-information about, how much the country, but this information is not yet available.

3) What is being done to The Fire stop? - Paul

President Bolsonaro is coming under increasing political pressure to end The Burning of the Amazon Between the European Union and South America as a result.

But warnings do not delete from auto Fire , and a few days after the satellite data was revealed, Brazil 's government your answer reinforced.

Mr Bolsonaro has called traps in The Armed forces, the witnesses more resources to fight the fires, including the use of helicopters and air-to-water.

journalist Silio Boccanera believes, However, that the attitude at The Top of the government must change. Before the People , and prevented deforestation, which needed believed. But now, "burning man without fear," he says.

4) The reporting on this topic has only recently because of the #PrayforAmazonas and #PrayforAmazonia hashtag. Why have you not reported? - Jake

We and other news media published several reports this summer about the extent of deforestation in the Amazon - and.

But the extent of the fires has only recently become clear. It was not reported very widely used in Brazil .

The First real sign of vast burning took place and came out as a daytime blackout, caused by The Smoke from the Amazon -hit in Sao Paulo on Monday, 19. August.

We first published, and we have always updated it since then.

#PrayforAmazonas hashtag was The First time in the early morning hours of Wednesday, UK. These, and other, such as #prayforrondonia have become trending topics around The World .

5) this Is a natural, healthy way, The Forest clears for new growth? - Lucy

As Lucy suggests, there is a case to be made that some Fire -adapted forests to benefit from The Fire - they can help clear The Forest and the trees room to grow stronger.

, But this is not The Situation right now in the Amazon , says Yadvinder Malhi , Professor of ecosystem science at the University of Oxford. "These are The Fire we are concerned," he says. The humid forests of the Amazon have no adaptation to Fire and will suffer enormous damage. Almost all fires are started in damp woods, by the People .

He believes that the Driving Force behind The Fire , a man is More Than of course.

While the statistics show that by 2016 a significant number of fires in the Amazon region saw that as a "drought years"- if there is rain, of course, less, so that The Forest is drier and therefore more Fire prone.

But 2019 is not a drought Year . Professor Malhi said, it is such a large number of fires, because People have, it lights up.

6) How fast is the Amazon rain forest to regenerate after a Fire ? - Emily

"The Forest will take about 20-40 years, if it is allowed to regenerate," says Prof Malhi.

But all the fires burning currently, to leave the surviving trees more susceptible to drought and repeated fires.

Prof Malhi is concerned that if the Amazon to beat all the fires few years, large parts of the layer to a degraded shrub-like condition.

"as soon As she had several fires in the past, the chance of permanent damage," he says.

7), If this current trend to Survive more on his current pace, how long the Amazon -would-rain-forest? - Christopher

"We are in an early stage, where we save much of The Forest ," says Prof Malhi. About 80% of the Amazon is still intact.

But he says that Climate Change and deforestation are a dangerous combination. A reduction in the amount of precipitation would create, to spread in The Dry conditions, and fires.

When 30-40% of the Amazon has been deleted, then there would be The Risk of change in The Forest the whole of the climate, he says.

In The Years prior to 2005, Brazil was a very high rate of deforestation.

photos from the Year 2003 shows aggressive deforestation in Brazil "If Brazil is to return, that it would take about 50-60 years to deforest 40% of the Amazon ," Prof Malhi says. "But in the Eastern and southern Amazonia, it would take only 20-30 years to reach that threshold. "

8) what proportion of oxygen the Amazon delivery? - Tom

Our colleagues from the BBC's Reality Check a whole day spent, always at the bottom of this.

Many say on Social Media , the Amazon produces about 20% of The World 's oxygen. It is widely quoted by campaign groups and well-known personalities, including Emmanuel Macron and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo .

But scientists say this is a very common misconception, and that the figure is less than 10%.

oxygen liberated by plants during photosynthesis, where carbon dioxide and water are transformed, and energy in the form of carbohydrates with the help of the sun.

A large part of The World 's oxygen is produced by plankton, explains Professor Malhi. He says that the oxygen produced by land-based plants, about 16% comes from the Amazon .

But that's not the whole story. In the Long Run , the Amazon takes in about the same amount of oxygen as it produces, effectively, the total produced net make-to-zero.

Professor Jon Lloyd of Imperial College London, says that to grow even though the Amazon produces a lot of oxygen during The Day through photosynthesis, absorbed about half of them back by The Process of respiration. Further oxygen is consumed by The Forest , soil, animals, and microbes.

- a gas released when wood is burned and not much access to oxygen.

9) Is The Smoke of these fires have an effect on the global weather in The Future months? - David



amazon rainforest, brazil, amazon fires, deforestation of the amazon rainforest, climate change

Source of news: bbc.com

Yadvinder Malhi Photos

Related Persons

Next Profile ❯