Brazil's army fights Amazon fires after hundreds more flare up
Porto Velho (Brazil): Brazil on Sunday deployed two C-130 Hercules aircraft to douse fires devouring parts of the Amazon rainforest, as hundreds of new blazes were ignited ahead of nationwide protests over the destruction.
Heavy smoke covered the city of Porto Velho in the northwestern state of Rondonia where the defense ministry said the planes have started dumping thousands of liters of water, amid a global uproar over the worst fires in years.
Swathes of the remote region bordering Bolivia have been scorched by the blazes, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky and increasing air pollution across the world's largest rainforest, which is seen as crucial to mitigating climate change.
Experts say increased land clearing during the months-long dry season to make way for crops or grazing has aggravated the problem this year. "It gets worse every year -- this year, the smoke has been really serious," Deliana Amorim, 46, told AFP in Porto Velho where half a million people live.
At least seven states, including Rondonia, have requested the army's help in the Amazon, where more than 43,000 troops are based and available to combat fires, officials said.
Dozens of firefighters are en route to Porto Velho to help put out the blazes. Justice Minister Sergio Moro has also given the green light for the deployment of security forces to tackle illegal deforestation in the region. The fires have triggered a global outcry and are a major topic of concern at the G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France.
World leaders at the summit have agreed to help the countries affected by the fires "as fast as possible," French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday. US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had earlier offered their countries' assistance.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said Sunday he would accept international help to combat wildfires raging in the country's southeast as he suspended his election campaign to deal with the crisis.
Although about 60 percent of the Amazon is in Brazil, the vast forest also spreads over parts of eight other countries or territories: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Macron's remarks come amid an escalating war of words with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, who he has accused of lying over Brazil's stance on climate change. Bolsonaro has denounced what he calls Macron's "colonialist mentality."
The fires threaten to torpedo a huge trade agreement between the European Union and South American countries, including Brazil, that took 20 years to negotiate.
EU Council president Donald Tusk told reporters at the G7 on Saturday that it was hard to imagine European countries ratifying a trade pact with the Mercosur bloc as long as Brazil fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon.
Pope Francis on Sunday also voiced concern for the rainforest, which he described as a "vital" lung for the planet.
Under intensifying pressure, Bolsonaro on Friday vowed a "zero tolerance" approach to criminal activities in the Amazon and promised strong action to control the fires.
Days earlier, he had accused non-government organizations of igniting the blazes. "There are forest fires all over the world, and this cannot be used as a pretext for possible international sanctions," Bolsonaro said. The latest official figures show 79,513 forest fires have been recorded in Brazil this year, the highest number of any year since 2013.
More than half of the fires are in the massive Amazon basin, where more than 20 million people live. Some 1,130 new fires were ignited between Friday and Saturday, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
The new data come as protesters plan to take to the streets across Brazil on Sunday, after thousands held demonstrations in the country and in Europe on Friday.
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Hormuz Blockade: Why Your World Stalls
Three weeks ago, the third Gulf War started. And since that day, ordinary life for millions of people around the world — including us — has quietly started getting more expensive and more difficult. Let us understand why.
Everything begins with a tiny 54-kilometre-wide waterway called the Strait of Hormuz, near Iran. Think of it like a narrow gate between two rooms. Almost all the oil, gas, and goods from the Gulf countries pass through this one gate to reach the rest of the world. Now that gate is blocked. And the world is beginning to choke.
The Fuel Problem
On 16th March, the price of crude oil crossed $106 per barrel — the highest since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022. Even Donald Trump released America's emergency oil reserves — the largest ever release — but traders are still not convinced the strait will reopen soon. About 10 to 15 percent of the world's oil supply is stuck.
Asian countries like India, China, Japan and Thailand are already cutting oil refinery production by 5 to 15 percent because the Gulf crude they are designed to process is simply not coming. The little oil that does arrive is the wrong type for their machines. Less production means less petrol, less diesel, less jet fuel — and higher prices at the pump for everyone.
Here is a scary number — if the blockade continues, countries in Africa may run out of jet fuel in just 23 days, Oceania in 36 days, and most of Asia in about 12 days. Some poorer nations have already started closing schools and cutting working days just to save fuel.
The Factory Problem
The Gulf is not just about oil. It supplies 24 percent of the world's aluminium — used in everything from milk packets to electric wires. The price of aluminium has jumped by ₹25,000 per tonne in just weeks. The Gulf also supplies nearly half the world's urea (fertiliser), a large portion of the plastics used in packaging, and critical chemicals used in making medicines — including the raw materials for aspirin and antibiotics.
India, being the world's largest maker of generic medicines, is directly affected. If these chemical raw materials stop arriving, medicine production slows down. Plastic companies in Asia have already declared "force majeure" — a legal term meaning "sorry, we simply cannot fulfil our contracts because the situation is beyond our control."
And then there is helium. Most people think helium is just for balloons. But it is actually used to cool the powerful magnets inside machines that make semiconductor chips — the tiny chips inside every phone, laptop, and car. Qatar used to supply one-third of the world's helium. That supply has now stopped. There is no easy backup.
The Food Problem
This is perhaps the most serious part. One-third of the world's fertiliser trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Countries like Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania get more than one-fourth of their fertiliser from the Gulf. Sudan gets more than half.
The price of urea has already jumped 35 percent since the war began. Sulphur, another crop nutrient, has risen 40 percent. The head of Yara, one of the world's biggest fertiliser companies, has warned this could be "catastrophic" for global food supply. In America, the agriculture minister has called it a "national security issue."
For farmers, the choice is brutal — pay double for fertiliser, use less and grow less, or wait and miss the planting season entirely. If fertiliser arrives late, it cannot help the 2026 harvest. Food that is not grown this season cannot be grown back next month.
What This Means For Us
We may not live near the Gulf. We may never have heard of the Strait of Hormuz before. But we will feel this — in rising petrol prices, costlier groceries, expensive medicines, and delayed goods. Even if the strait reopens tomorrow, experts say things will not return to normal quickly. Damaged refineries, broken factories, and cautious shipping companies will take months to restart.
This crisis is also a loud warning for every country — including India — to seriously rethink how deeply we depend on one single region for so many essential goods. True security means building alternative suppliers, stronger reserves, and smarter trade routes before the next crisis hits.
One small passage. One war. And slowly, the whole world is beginning to feel the heat.
(Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst. He is the Managing Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany.)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or position of the publication, its editors, or its management. The publication is not responsible for the accuracy of any information, statements, or opinions presented in this piece.
