ANALYSIS: Amazon Fires and Hurricane Dorian spark climate debates, PM Trudeau and CSU in trouble

By Kate Perschke

September 22, 2019

The Amazon burns and Dorian devastates Bahamas, all in the same month

Two of 2019’s most devastating natural disasters left the world stunned during the month of August, the Amazon Rainforest fires and category five Hurricane Dorian, sparking a debate on climate change and its implications for the future. The Google Trends graphic above shows the worldwide interest over time based on Google searches from August 19, 2019 to September 19, 2019.

According to news outlets, the Amazon fires had been burning for three weeks before major Western media picked it up. The trends expressed in this graph show more interaction when Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas and other places along the Pacific ocean, compared to the fires occurring in the Amazon. 

These natural disasters are highly politicized by the controversial debate around climate change. However, the graphs show the world’s interests in these disasters, interacting more with Hurricane Dorian rather than the Amazon fires. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, rejected $22 million in aid from G-7 in response of the fires. The fire’s cause is human – driven by the capitalist appeal of cattle farming, ranchers are burning parts of the forest to create space for their livestock, and Bolsonaro is having trouble controlling them. 

Hurricane Dorian brings its own climate politics to the table. From Trump’s hurricane briefing that lead to spreading false information about Dorian’s path towards the United States to science that shows how climate change is intensifying hurricanes, the climate debate continues on.

Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau faces brownface controversy, while Colorado State University faces recurring instances of hate crimes

What does the Prime Minister of Canada and Colorado State University have in common? This week, it is instances of blackface. This Google Trends graphic shows the search interactions of Justin Trudeau and Colorado State University for September 19, 2019.

This past week, Prime Minister Trudeau came under fire for three instances of brownface from the 1990s to early 2000s. On September 19, 2019, Trudeau apologized for his mistakes and recognized the hurt that the history of blackface represents.

On September 10, 2019, a photo of Colorado State University students in blackface surfaced on social media. Since the image has been circulated, the university’s administration held a rally for unity on Thursday, September 19th. This rally was disrupted by a group of silent protesters consisting of students of color and allies, forcing the administration to acknowledge the pain this incident has caused. 

This has not been the only act of hate on CSU’s campus, as the Reported Incidents of Bias page on the university’s safety website has been updated on a somewhat regular basis since 2017. As incidents of hate become regular on both a local and international level, we as a society must question how far we have come in the fight for racial equality.

(Updated on September 26, 2019. Fixed AP Style errors.)