Deforestation of the Earth's lungs - Amazonia

The slow but steady destruction of the Amazon rainforest is beginning to tell in many ways now.

Deforestation of the Earth's lungs - Amazonia

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• The story: Expert reports in 2021 found that the area deforested in Brazil's Amazon reached a 15-year high after a 22% jump from the prior year (2020). A study had also shown that Amazon forests had started emitting Carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of absorbing it! More dangerously, the general approach of the govt. of President Jair Bolsonaro was not inspiring confidence. Global climate change and more deforestation will likely lead to increased temperatures and changing rain patterns in the Amazon, which will undoubtedly affect the region’s forests, water availability, biodiversity, agriculture, and human health.
• Why called "lungs of the planet": Tropical rainforests are often called the “lungs of the planet” because they generally draw in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. But the amount of carbon dioxide they absorb, or produce, varies hugely with year-to-year variations in the climate. In general, trees release oxygen when they use energy from the sunshine to make glucose from carbon dioxide and water. It takes six molecules of CO2 to produce one molecule of glucose by photosynthesis, and six molecules of oxygen are released as a byproduct.
• Why are these forests being cut: There are many reasons -

1. Small-scale agriculture - It is a big driver of deforestation here, as it requires the forest to be “slashed and burned” to clear the ground for crops and grazing of various types.
2. Fires - Unlike other types of forests, the Amazon did not evolve to burn. In the Amazon basin, fires can actually be spurred by deforestation. As their name suggests, rainforests contain high levels of moisture, which helps buffer them from fire.
3. Industrial agriculture operations - Such operations are becoming increasingly common in the Amazon Rainforest. That is part of government policy.
4. Cattle ranching - A key cause is linked to beef consumption, for which vast areas are cleared by cutting down trees and burning the forest in order to create pastureland for grazing cattle. Brazil is a major supplier of beef to countries like the US and China, exporting 1.82 million tons in 2019 alone. India too is a major exporter.
5. Other reasons - Mining operations, for sought-after minerals such as gold, account for further damage to the Amazon forest. Increased government incentives in the form of loans and infrastructure spending, including roads and dams.

• Amazon rainforests: These are the world's largest tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America. Tropical forests are closed-canopy forests growing within 28 degrees north or south of the equator. They are very wet places, receiving more than 200 cm rainfall per year, either seasonally or throughout the year. Temperatures are uniformly high - between 20°C and 35°C.

1. Such forests are found in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and on many of the Pacific Islands. The Amazon is a vast biome that spans eight rapidly developing countries—Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname—and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France.
2. The Amazon rainforests cover about 80% of the Amazon basin and they are home to nearly a fifth of the world’s land species and is also home to about 30 million people including hundreds of indigenous groups and several isolated tribes. The Amazon basin is huge with an area covering over 6 million square kilometres, it is nearly twice the size of India.
3. The basin produces about 20% of the world’s flow of freshwater into the oceans. Comprising about 40% of Brazil’s total area, it is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountains to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

• Initiatives to tackle deforestation: Brazil was among those nations which promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030 during the COP26 climate summit. Other initiatives have been -

1. LEAF (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance) Coalition was announced at the Leaders Summit on Climate, 2021
2. REDD+ initiatives: It is one of the climate change mitigation options in developing countries for conservation of forest carbon stock, sustainable management of forests and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

• Summary: Reports from the IPCC have clearly indicated that mankind does not have any more time left for experimentation, if the rise in global warming is to be contained quickly. Maintaining large forests is a most important part of that story.
• KNOWLEDGE CENTRE:

1. Rainforests are Earth’s oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species—even though they cover just 6% of Earth’s surface. This makes rainforests astoundingly dense with flora and fauna; a 10-square-kilometer (4-square-mile) patch can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies.
2. Rainforests thrive on every continent except Antarctica. The largest rainforests on Earth surround the Amazon River in South America and the Congo River in Africa. The tropical islands of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia support dense rainforest habitats. Even the cool evergreen forests of North America’s Pacific Northwest and Northern Europe are a type of rainforest.
3. Most rainforests are structured in four layers: emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor. Each layer has unique characteristics based on differing levels of water, sunlight, and air circulation. While each layer is distinct, they exist in an interdependent system: processes and species in one layer influence those in another.

• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) What are various types of forests on planet Earth? Why are rainforests considered the lungs of the planet? (2) Politics is playing with the future of the planet in ways it cannot fathom at the moment, but will repent later at leisure. Comment.

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