Stop, Drop, and...Retweet?

While it may not be one’s instinctual reaction to fire, retweeting pictures and videos of the swiftly spreading flames has been the main response to the Amazon rainforest fires.

The hashtag #PrayforAmazonia went viral two weeks ago and has since inundated many other social media feeds.

For residents of Maryland, it may be hard to feel connected to something occurring oceans away, but it is important to know that the consequences of the rainforest fires occurring in Brazil affect everyone.

Global warming, while some still choose to ignore it, has become an increasingly real threat for the planet, and the Amazon fires have only hammered yet another nail into the Earth’s coffin.

Christopher Beck, chief of the Climate Change Policy Division of the Climate Change Program for the Air and Radiation Administration in the Maryland Department of the Environment, said, “wildfires exacerbate the problem [global warming] because they interrupt the carbon cycle as the trees burn and the top layer of organic soil is impacted.”

“It’s important to understand that the topsoil is also an important carbon sink,” said Beck.

As chief of the Climate Change Policy Division of the Climate Change Program for the Air and Radiation Administration, Beck oversees the implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act (GGRA), the State's participation in the U.S. Climate Alliance, and provides support to the Maryland Commission on Climate Change.

“I was relieved to learn that the global community was intervening in the region (with aid),” said Beck.

“Reforestation will restore the natural carbon cycle, even capturing the carbon released during the recent fires,” explained Beck. “It may take decades until all the carbon that was emitted during the recent fire is recaptured, but reforestation today will help minimize the climate impact in the future,” he added.

Maryland's emissions impact is small relative to the Amazon forest fires, but Maryland has 3,100 miles of shoreline and is one of the states potentially most vulnerable to sea-level rise associated with climate change.

Beck says Maryland is leading by example on mitigation though. The state has a plan to achieve a 40% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030. The plan will be released as a draft in 2019 with billions of dollars of increased in-state economic output and more than 11 thousand additional jobs through 2030. The plan includes a proposed legislative initiative that aims to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2040 through a new Clean and Renewable Energy Standard (CARES).

“Anyone can start a climate conversation. Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this one,” said Beck.