more than a third of the rapidly degenerating Amazon The rainforest has been degraded by human actions, New scientific research has revealed.
Up to 38 percent of the forest, an area 10 times the size of the United Kingdom, has been affected.
The damage is being driven by four major disturbances – fire, selective logging (including illegal practices), extreme drought and so-called “edge effects”, changes occurring next to deforested areas.
Degradation is defined as the damage that people do to forests in the long or short term. is different from deforestationFor example, cutting down trees to change land use for agriculture.
The Amazon rainforest is a natural buffer to the climate crisis, absorbing vast amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide. Scientists have warned that as the dense forest is being cut and burned, it is getting dangerously close to the tipping point where it will become a net carbon emitter.
The new study, conducted by an international team of scientists, examined data on the Amazon from 2001 to 2018. They found that the level of degradation was far greater than previously thought and that cutting down trees caused emissions equal to or greater than those previously thought. ,
The team found that by 2050, degradation would still be a major emissions source, even if deforestation was halted or reversed.
The new study, which involved some of Brazil’s leading science institutions, complicates the urgent question of how to save the Amazon.
Brazil’s new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula, announced plans to end illegal deforestation in the rainforest at his inauguration on New Year’s Day. One of his first acts as president was to re-establish an Amazon Fund for sustainable development in the rainforest.
He has also appointed several prominent cabinet members to strengthen his mission. Marina Silva from the Amazonian state of Acre, a longtime environmentalist, was named environment minister. Lula previously served as leader of Brazil and prompted a sharp decline in deforestation.
How land degradation is affecting the Amazon rainforest
(Alex Argozino / Studio Argozino / Science Magazine)
Sonia Guajara, leader of the main umbrella group for many Brazilians My country Tribes, made history as the first head of a new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.
Most of Brazil’s indigenous territories are located in the Amazon and communities are the front-line protectors of the forest and its rich biodiversity. they are killed in increasing numbers amid invasions of their land for illegal logging, ranching and mining.
Study says Amazon’s decline not only has consequences climate crisis And the loss of species but also affects communities.
“Some people benefit from the degradation process, yet many lose all dimensions of human well-being – including health, nutrition and the space they attach to the forest landscape where they live,” Dr Rachel Carmenta said co-authors based at the University of East Anglia.
The research team called for better monitoring of the Amazon using a mix of technology and sensors, and tighter restrictions on logging and fire-setting.