The Amazon Rainforest is burning, and Apple’s chief executive officer has taken to Twitter to pledge funds to help preserve the ecosystem there.
On Monday, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, published a tweet that said Apple will be donating funds to help “preserve” the Amazon rainforest’s “biodiversity” and “restore the Amazon’s indispensable forest” across Latin America. Cook did not go into any primary details, so it’s unknown just how much Apple will be donating in this effort.
Here’s the tweet:
It’s devastating to see the fires and destruction ravaging the Amazon rainforest, one of the world’s most important ecosystems. Apple will be donating to help preserve its biodiversity and restore the Amazon’s indispensable forest across Latin America.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) August 26, 2019
The damage in the Amazon rainforest is massive. While fires within the stretch are common in certain months, including July, the fires that have been ravaging the diverse section of South America far outnumber previous years. The last reported number says that there are somewhere around 80,000 fires burning within the Amazon now.
For its part, Brazil has declared a state of emergency.
The above image is from a report by The Los Angeles Times, which, in part, says:
More than a soccer field’s worth of Amazon forest is falling every minute, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, known as INPE. Preliminary estimates from satellite datarevealed that deforestation in June rose almost 90% compared with the same month last year, and by 280% in July.
The importance of the Amazon rainforest is not a secret. Along with providing a percentage of the world’s oxygen, it is also the home of what’s estimated to be upwards of 10 percent of the world’s biodiversity.
The situation in the Amazon is dire, and has garnered plenty of attention around the world. It is not surprising to hear that Apple will be donating some amount of money to help with the cause.