Devastated Lewis Hamilton Offers his Aid in Saving the Amazon Forest

Over the past few days, raging fires have been sweeping across the Amazon rainforest. This has undoubtedly had several people worried about the consequences on the environment. In addition to that, hundreds and thousands of animals have lost their homes and possibly their lives as well. Among the many tributes was reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton. The British driver revealed that he is ‘devastated’ by the Amazon Rainforest fires.

The Amazon Rainforest , which covers most of Brazil and parts of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It is also considered as the world’s largest tropical forest, and the lungs of the earth. The forest is rich in diversity in terms of wildlife and plant life. To be precise, there are around one million indigenous people and three million species of plants and animals residing in the lush jungle.

Sadly, the forest has borne witness to a record number of fires in 2019 alone. In fact, the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), detected an astounding 72,843 fires between January and August. In other worse, the frequency of fires has increased to 84 percent compared to 2018.

On Instagram, a distressed Lewis Hamilton wrote, “It is devastating to see our world suffer. The Amazon rainforest is burning at a record rate and there have been 80% more fires this year compared to last. Scientist refer to the Amazon as the earths lungs as it produces 20% of the oxygen we breath. More than a soccer field is being destroyed every minute everyday, the world needs to come together and help. If you haven’t already, please post about it, it is vital we continue to spark action. United Nations if there is anything I can do, I’m ready to help in anyway I can.”

It is said that there are two main causes for the raging inferno, wildfires and deliberate fires to illegally clear the forest for cattle ranching. As a result of the latter, many have blamed Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro for the destruction. Bolsonaro pledged to develop the region for farming and mining when he took office in January. It is said that he did so,  in spite of warnings given by conservationists around deforestation.

In the last decade, the Brazilian government helped hobble the rate of deforestation, however, Bolsonaro’s actions may have dropped everything back to square 1. In light of the massive fire, Lewis Hamilton and several other sports stars sent in their tributes.