[ad_1]
Between 2010 and 2019, the Amazon basin in Brazil emitted 16.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide and absorbed only 13.9 billion tons of CO2. This is a big difference, given that the Amazon region and its rainforests are called the lungs of the world. But what happened?
Well, people passed. The researchers calculated how much CO2 forests could absorb and compared this figure to the carbon dioxide emitted during slash and burn operations.
Amazon forests
The forests themselves do not emit this CO2. But what they absorb can easily be returned to the atmosphere when trees and shrubs are burned.
In 2019, the Brazilian Amazon lost four times more forests than in 2018 or 2017. 3.9 million hectares of forest were lost in one year. For comparison, the area of Lithuania is 6.53 million hectares.
Why are forests so precious to the world cut down and burned? Well, President Jair Bolsonaro, sworn in in 2019, is not a great environmentalist.
Amazon forests
Industry is prioritized. Forests are cut down for wood and to increase the cultivated area.
Scientists cannot say if this damage is irreparable. If not, it probably will. Humanity can no longer depend on the Amazonian forests because humanity itself is destroying them.
Not only deforestation, but also fragmentation and fires are damaging the environment. Some of them, natural, others, make people prepare the land for agriculture.
[ad_2]
