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My Patagonian Backyard Is Burning — And This Only Feels Like The Beginning
Until we halt this trajectory and strive for net-zero emissions, the Earth will continue to heat. And burn.
The alarm rings at 6:37 am. It’s another Monday morning here in Patagonia. But this won’t go down as any other regular Monday. Because the sky, normally a serene morning blue, has taken on an apocalyptic hue. It’s an unsettling sight — the ominous glow of a wildfire raging.
The sky mixes gray with sepia and red: it’s the color of hell and death. An improbable south wind bringing the fire plume from Los Alerces, which continues to burn, having already consumed over 3200 hectares? No, this isn’t a distant spectacle; it’s unfolding in our very backyard. The horizon reflects an inferno raging perilously close to home.
News spread fast: the flames rage in Brazo Tristeza, just 20 kilometers away. A place we know too well, a sanctuary nestled within . Now, a natural haven turned into a blazing inferno.
The cause? An unattended campfire, a careless act in a region where fires are strictly forbidden for obvious reasons. It’s so clear that this was the cause because the intangible area from where the first focus was recognized is only accessible by…
