here’s How our mistreatment of the Amazon rainforest has led to a climate crisis that is happening NOW
Biologically rich, oxygen harbouring, and home to many, the Amazon rainforest has tenderly cared for all of humanity throughout its iconic history. However, with the WWF noting that 2021 has had the highest rates of Amazon deforestation in 15 years, it is clear we have forgotten to return the favour.
Jana Gamble of the Amazon Aid Foundation describes how “the Amazon is home to more wild plants and animals than any other place on Earth”; in fact it hosts around 25% of global biodiversity, unquestionably cementing its place as a keystone to the health of our planet.
Furthermore, the Amazon has the potential to be the saviour of our carbon-rich climate, keeping nearly 400 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere through the process of photosynethesis; an increasingly important function to a society that insists on the apathetic overuse of fossil fuels. In fact, the Amazon has often been termed “a carbon sink” thanks to its ability to flush harmful gas down the drain.
But with reports concluding that the deforestation of the rainforest is now producing more CO2 than the Amazon could hope to convert, it seems the plughole has finally been clogged.
Once a sea of green, the landscape of the Amazon is now flooded with man-made, merciless flames; the culprit of deforestation rages through the rainforest, killing wildlife, devastating the lands of Indigenous people, and pushing humanity to a ‘point of no return’ in regard to global warming. With powerful companies and governments contributing to vast areas of trees being lost every minute, we must question if we even have enough time to save the once-beautiful land.
WHY?
The deliberate burning of the land, now working together with the increasingly hot temperatures to produce emissions of a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, is partly attributable to the attempt to clear the land for beef and soy production. A study published in the Journal Science details how around a fifth of the soy and 17% of the beef exported to the EU comes from deforested Amazon lands. Meat doesn’t taste as good when you realise that your food may be sourced from the destroyed homes of hundreds of endangered species.
It is not only the meat and soy industries to blame; greed-funded gold mining has only further encouraged the destruction of natural habitats. The Peruvian area of La Pampa depicts perhaps the harshest effects of said mining. Once a luscious and biodiverse area of the rainforest, La Pampa now tragically resembles a sandy wasteland; its beige and bleak landscape is a truly depressing picture of how close we are coming to an environmental point of no return with human deforestation attempts.
Followed by ABC News, director of Junglekeepers (a program with aims to conserve what is left of the Amazon) Paul Rosolie takes us on a journey of the remains of the rainforest and La Pampa. Stopping to mourn a still-burning mass of trees, Rosolie is asked if the area can be replanted after the fire, replying with a blunt and miserable “no”.
“This is where climate change is happening, this is where the extinction crisis is happening – we are allowing this”, he states.
Rosolie and the Junglekeepers protect a large amount of the rainforest, including areas with ironwood trees (arguably one of the most significant species to allow the environment to thrive). However, this area is only small compared to the amounts of total destruction dealt with the Amazon already; with governments being able to mow down habitats quicker than we can save them.
WHO?
Dubbed “the Trump of the Tropics”, many point the finger of blame in the face of far-right Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro. Despite the oncoming ecological death of the Amazon, Bolsonaro is far more interested in greedily tapping global markets and pleasing agribusiness industries, using the rainforest as his playground to make money and farm for valuable products.
Since Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, deforestation and fires in the Amazon have risen to their highest levels in more than a decade, a stark difference when compared to former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who managed to reduce levels by 80%.
Bolsonaro has utilised his authority to shift responsibility for the monitoring of forest fire satellites from the robust and trustworthy National Institute for Space Research, onto the National Institute of Meteorology. This corporation is conveniently under the influence of the agriculture ministry and farming sector, allowing Bolsonaro to increase his free reign over the Amazon.
Bolsonaro ignorantly declares any solid evidence of climate change to be “lies”, all whilst opening up indigenous reserves for mining, potentially destroying some of the best kept and oxygen-rich areas of the rainforest.
“The Amazon is ours” Bolsonaro declares in a conversation with journalists, perhaps the statement that has put the nail in the coffin of the rainforest.
WHAT’s NEXT?
This deforestation will not only destroy native Amazon habitats- it can and will destroy our world. The UN warns of the devastating impacts for our climate if destruction continues at this rate; climate scientists declare there are only 12 years for global warming to be kept at a maximum of 1.5C, after which even a slight increase in heat will result in drought, extreme poverty and unbearable heat. This figure is currently unfeasible with the huge amounts of carbon emission darkening the atmosphere of the Amazon and clogging the lungs of the world.
The time to act has already passed; we must react immediately to now preserve as much of the essential environment as possible.
Portuguese Politian Antonio Guterres states “governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees”. “The major emitters must step up”. However, with the economical advantages of the savagery committed unto the rainforest and attitudes of authority like Bolsonaro, much of the effort has fallen into the hands of conservationists like Junglekeepers, and concerned civilians.
WHAT CAN I DO?
“Anyone can plant a tree and we can start doing it tomorrow”, claims Bastin, implying the importance of each and every person doing their bit to lessen climate change.
Take public transport. Research where your weekly shop comes from. Turn off all electrical appliances. These changes may seem small, but in the face of governments that destroy huge areas for selfish, little gain, we must do whatever we can to save the rainforest and to save our planet.
Words by: Daisy Thorogood
Edited by: Yasmine Moro Virion