The Amazon rainforest is burning at an alarming rate, creating worldwide concerns. Click here to know more.
Here is a look at the role the Amazon plays in regulating the world’s climate and the possible impact of Amazon fires on the world climate.
What is the current Amazon scenario?
The current fires in the Amazon are not wildfires.
They are manmade and are mostly set illegally by landgrabbers who are clearing the forest for cattle ranching and crops.
Deforesting the Amazon is a long, slow process.
People clear the land by cutting down the vegetation during the rainy season, letting the trees dry out and burning them during the dry season.
Fully clearing the dense forest for agricultural use can take several years of slashing and burning. But now, it is not taking place at this small-scale level.
The 21st century deforestation takes place with tractors connected by large chains, which are pulling trees out by their roots.
Is oxygen supply really at risk?
It is commonly said that the Amazon produces 20% of the world’s oxygen.
Climate scientists however claim that the figure is wrong and the oxygen supply is not directly at risk in any case.
This is because forests, including the Amazon, absorb roughly the same amount of oxygen they produce.
Plants do produce oxygen through photosynthesis, but they also absorb it to grow, as do animals and microbes.
What is the crucial role then?
The Amazon rainforest is frequently referred to as the “lungs of the planet.”
But a better way to picture the Amazon’s role is as a ‘sink’.
This is because the Amazon forests drain heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
It is a critical absorber of carbon of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels, like oil and coal.
Currently, the world is emitting around 40 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.
Of this, the Amazon absorbs 2 billion tons of CO2 per year (or 5% of annual emissions).
In this way, the Amazon forests play a vital role in preventing climate change.
What effect do the fires create now?
Fires in the Amazon mean the carbon-absorbing forest is disappearing.
Besides this, the fires also mean that the flames themselves are emitting millions of tons of carbon every day.
This could be as serious as turning the thick jungle of Amazon into a tropical savannah.
This is because the rainforest recycles its own water to produce a portion of the region’s rain.
So, deforestation would make rains less frequent, and extend the dry season.
Estimatedly, if 20% to 25% of the forest is destroyed, the dry season will expand enough that it will no longer be a forest, but a savannah.
