2023-06-07 16:45:00
In response to notices that smoke from the more than 400 wildfires raging in Canada poses a health risk to tens of millions of people in North AmericaMarta Schaaf, Director of Amnesty International’s Climate, Economic and Social Justice and Corporate Accountability Program, said:
“Smoke from hundreds of fires in Canada, many of them out of control, has engulfed some of North America’s largest cities, including Montreal, Toronto and New York, in a smog that is dangerous to health. These fires will have an immeasurable impact on the quality of life and the right to health of the people who are forced to breathe this polluted air. Children, pregnant people, the elderly and people with heart or lung disease are especially vulnerable to the small particles generated by these fires, particles that can be carried enormous distances. In addition, the fires are having a notable impact on indigenous peoples, and have already forced the evacuation of the communities of Fort Chipewyan, in Alberta, and Uashat mak Mani-utenam, in Quebec.”
“Unusually severe forest fires have already occurred this year in Russia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Central America. Large-scale wildfires aggravate climate change by burning forests that have stored large amounts of carbon”
“Climate change is exacerbating the magnitude of wildfires around the world, as rising temperatures lead to longer and more destructive fire seasons. According to Copernicus, the EU’s Earth observation programme, unusually severe forest fires have already occurred this year in Russia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Mongolia y Central America. Large-scale forest fires aggravate climate change by burning forests that have stored large amounts of carbon.”
“There is a clear disconnect between the damage faced by the population and the attempts to prolong and expand the production of fossil fuels that are the main cause of the climate crisis. The aggravation of these fires is an obvious indication of an ever hotter world. Greenhouse gas emissions have already increased global temperatures by 1.2ºC, compared to pre-industrial levels.”
“Unless we urgently change course, and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels, the world will get hotter and hotter and consequences like these fires will worsen. We must not be fooled by the promises of the fossil fuel lobby that carbon capture and storage, unproven on a large scale, is a response to this growing global crisis.”
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