The environmental impacts the Amazon fires could pose

We’re in peak fire season here on the Central Coast, and while we haven’t seen any major fire, things can quickly change.

If the Amazon fires continue to burn in South America, it could lead to worldwide environmental impacts. Whether we are in Brazil, California, or anywhere else in the world… we’re all connected by the air we breathe, so it’s important to keep it safe.

A place nearly 5,000 miles away, brings local officials on edge. If the fires continue to burn, Richard Stedman with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District says, it could bring the worst. “We’ll see a change in the environment relative to stronger flooding, storms, that sort of thing that is associated with climate change.”

Trees are the lungs of the earth, they inhale the bad, and exhale the good. For something as big as the Amazon Rainforest, there’s a lot of good being done for our environment. “There’s estimates that say approximately 20% of the earth’s oxygen is generated from the Amazon Rainforest.”

As the fire continues to rage, the world’s greatest contributor of oxygen will take a hit. But there is another factor. Stedman says. “The fires themselves are putting additional carbon into the atmosphere.”

As more and more carbon is put into the atmosphere, many are looking to reduce it. While wildfires add carbon in the atmosphere, and pose threats to life and property, there is a silver lining. Jonathan Pangburn with Cal Fire says, “Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem and it is a natural process that has developed the species that we have, and not just not just on the Central Coast but all over with a lot of our fire dependant ecosystems in California. “

The other threat with wildfires is smoke. Right now, air officials aren’t too concerned with much coming towards the Central Coast.