Sunday Weekly Global Meditation - August 25th, 2019

This week we are sending intentions to stop the fires in the Amazon rainforest. 

Here is some info about this alarming issue:

"The world’s largest rainforest is up in flames, and Brazil is currently the epicentre of an environmental disaster. The Amazon rainforest, covering seven million square kilometres of land and comprising 40 per cent of the world’s rainforest, has been aflame for three weeks. 

Images of the destruction have taken social media by storm, and sparked an outcry among netizens. There seems however, to be a conspicuous lack of attention on the part of the Brazilian government.

What has caused the blazes in the Amazon rainforest, you may be wondering?

The blame has been solely placed on human activity. According to The Express, the rainforest has generally been fire-resistant due to its natural moisture and humidity. However, its resilience has decreased as deforestation and logging activities intensified over the years. 

Said ecologist Thomas Lovejoy to National Geographic: “There’s no question that it’s a consequence of the recent uptick in deforestation.”Fires are often started by local farmers and cattle ranchers as an easy way to clear land, and these blazes then spiral out of control. As a result of the decreased tree cover and greenery, rainfall lessens and the region becomes even drier, spurring more deforestation and potential wildfires. It’s a cycle of destruction.

The Amazon rainforest has previously existed as a perfectly balanced, self-sustaining system, self-generating the rain that falls over the land. Human activity however, seems to be pushing the ecosystem past its tipping point. The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world and is practically ‘life support’ for the earth—it has been referred to as the earth’s “lungs”, because it produces 20 per cent of the planet’s oxygen."

Blessings,

@18:00BST

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Read more about our Sunday Weekly Global Meditation here.