The place metaphorically revered to as the lungs of the earth, the Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest on the world map & is unarguably one of the most important places currently on earth.(deforestation) The amount of importance it holds for humankind can be explained via a single line, ‘without amazon, humankind will lose the fight against climate change, plain & simple’.
The rainforest is expanded in an area of 5,500,000 sq. km & is considered to be nearly half of the entire planet’s rainforest cover. It houses the largest & most diverse ecosystem in its cover & is spread over nine international boundaries with Brazil housing the most of it.
A place with such importance should be revered no less than holistic, but continuous action of mankind has put the entire rainforest & therefore, the entire earth at stake.
The importance of amazon
As stated, in terms of raw ecological diversity, the amazon rainforest holds:
40,000+ plant species
3,000+ aqua life species
16,000+ tree species
1300+ birds
430+mammals
400+ reptiles
& 1,000+ amphibians
These figures are highest on the face of the entire planet & the forest has sustained them for thousands of years.
The importance of amazon can be seen in everyday life as amazon constitutes 20% of the oxygen produced by photosynthesis on land & approximately 6% of the world’s oxygen supply (not to be confused with the general myth of, amazon producing 20% of earth’s entire oxygen supply) but apart from this huge balancing factor, amazon is the cradle of biodiversity on earth.
Apart from acting as the planet’s lungs, amazon accomplishes a really important task of keeping the planet cool. This cooling factor is one of the most effective weapons against climate change.
Deforestation, rate & causes
The darkness of deforestation is the phenomenon that has been haunting the amazon rainforest for a long time. The data available from 1977 to 2019 show the loss of effective forest cover from 4,100,000 sq. km to 3,298,551 sq. km in Brazil. Only 80.5% of original forest cover remained as of 2019 which indicates that we have effectively lost around 19.5% or roughly 801,449 sq. km of rainforest cover as of 2019. Complimenting that is loss of 11,088 sq. km of forest in 2020 up until now.
The process of deforestation generally happened in waves, with the first one hitting in the 1970s starting from Brazil. The land rush that occurred due to the government incentivizing settling in the forest area dealt the very first blow to the nearly 5,000,000+ sq. km jungle. As the civilization settled in, vast areas along the route were cleared to make farmlands & pastures for cattle raising.
Between 1978-88, an average of over 20,000+ sq. km of forest was cleared each year. Over time, the whole area where civilization thrived was referred to as the arc of deforestation & it kept expanding until some major reforms made their way in Brazil in 2003. These reforms designated huge chunks of forest under the direct protection of the ministry of environment of Brazil.
Along with these, some major steps were taken towards a more sustainable approach in Brazil & the whole of Latin America followed the suit. These efforts proved fruitful when we look at records which show a substantial decrease in deforestation rate post-2004-05.
By 2012, almost 47% of the rainforest was included under protected land & various forest code were also introduced to reduce deforestation on private properties in Brazil. As a result, 2012 was the year where the least amount of deforestation occurred, almost 4,571 sq. km. this figure was least in 50 years up until 2020.
But owing to political pressure, these strict rules were relaxed which resulted in another wave of deforestation post-2014 up to 2020. As of now only 3,287,463 sq. km of forest cover remains which is roughly 80.18% of the original Brazilian amazon forest cover.
Apart from Brazil, Latin American countries also faced the threat of heavy deforestation which led to the eradication of a huge chunk of total Amazonian forest cover. 16% of the total Amazonian forest cover has been reduced to ashes with deforestation rates climbing with every passing day.
The main cause of deforestation are:
- State policies of expansion projects such as railway & highways for sake of economic development.
- Highly destructive agricultural activates for example slash & burn agriculture.
- Turning forest areas into pastures via cutting down forest cover.
- Industrial agriculture.
- Global economic demands for forest resources like timber & pulpwood.
- Forest fires, either man-made or natural.
- Illegal & unsustainable logging.
- Mining & fuelwood harvesting.
- Climate change.
Read Also : WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST WETLAND
Amazon tipping point & what if amazon suddenly disappeared one day?
After all these trends revolving around deforestation, a catastrophic result is bound to occur one way or another & this result will not be pleasant for all of humanity. The phenomenon of this impending point of time lurking around the corner which will cause the final collapse of amazon’s ecosystem as a whole is termed as amazon’s tipping point.
In amazon, everything is interconnected & messing with this delicate balance can only be tolerated up to a certain extent & the ecological system, either local or global, is heavily influenced by the presence of Amazon. Recently, the average forest temperature increased by 1–1.5 °C & there was a significant increase in dry season in the last 50 years. Apart from this, the area has suffered from severe drought thrice since 2005. All this data means one clear thing, things are far from alright in amazon.
The generally accepted figure for a tipping point is just 20-25% of total rainforest cover. I.e. if 20-25% of total forest were cut down, the Amazonian ecosystem would reach a tipping point & collapse internally. Added to this matter is the study which suggests that if the present rate of tree mortality continues for 10 to 15 years, amazon would collapse into a savannah.
So what would happen if this tropical forest suddenly disappeared one day? The question in itself can put a whole lot of human civilization at stake. For starters, a study in 2007 proved that this forest contained 86 billion tons of carbon, eradication of this forest would lead to the huge leakage of carbon directly into the atmosphere. This would certainly prove fatal in humankind’s fight against climate change.
Apart from heavy carbon mono & dioxide pollution rates, the precipitation pattern & rate of the whole of south & central South America will take an irreversible hit & this would, in turn, affect millions of organic life present on the continent not to mention the huge loss of biodiversity on a global scale.
Surprisingly, humankind’s fight against various deadly diseases would also take a serious hit with the eradication of amazon as many medicines are derived from Amazonian forest resources which are crucial for the fight against conditions like cancer & AIDS.
The present condition, as stated, is already bad enough for the amazon rainforest & if it is not kept under high vigilance, the fatality would engulf the entire planet in the coming future. Some necessary steps must be taken to preserve this precious resource & to reverse the damage that has already been dealt in order to create a sustainable & healthy future.
Reference & image links:
- https://www.internetgeography.net/what-are-the-causes-of-deforestation-in-the-amazon/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034425796001538
- https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html
- https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/deforestation_fronts2/deforestation_in_the_amazon/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55130304
- https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
- https://time.com/amazon-rainforest-disappearing/
- https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/Deforestation
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/
- https://www.internetgeography.net/topics/what-are-the-effects-of-deforestation-in-the-amazon/#:~:text=Deforestation%20in%20the%20rainforest%20means,cures%20for%20life%2Dthreatening%20diseases.
- https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/amazon-approaches-tipping-point/
- https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_wildlife.html
- https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_importance.htm
- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00508-4#:~:text=Scientists%20agree%2C%20however%2C%20that%20more,swiftly%20transform%20into%20dry%20scrubland.
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/05/amazon-near-tipping-point-of-switching-from-rainforest-to-savannah-study
- https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/impending-amazon-tipping-point-puts-biome-and-world-at-risk-scientists-warn/
Tags: #biodiversity, #climatechange, #deforestation, #environment, #forest, #getgreengetgrowing, #globalwarming, #gogreen, #greenstories, #nature, #nutritionalhealth, #savetheplanet, #sustainability, #trees
