Francesca Del Fico The Amazon is home to the largest rainforest in the world: the Amazon forest, also known as the green lung of the Earth, is today seriously threatened by the climate crisis and human intervention
Two studies in the issue of Science bring stark resolution to the state of the Amazon rainforest. Both show that the impact of human activities upon this crucial ecosystem is increasingly dire-from the policies regulating global deforestation to local human-made disturbances.
A delicate and important ecosystem
The Amazon rainforest is the world’s most vital ecosystem-and also its most vulnerable. It provides a home for nearly one-third of all known animal species and provides essential global ecosystem services, including carbon and water cycle regulation. Often described as the “green lung” of the planet, the Amazon plays a critical role in maintaining Earth’s ecological balance.
However, invasive agriculture and industries, coupled with anthropogenic climate change, have brought quick and severe destruction to the region.
The 2021 report by the Science Panel for the Amazon gives a sober outlook; the frequency of phenomena such as deforestation is altering ecosystems in the Amazon at a blistering pace.
Immediate action necessary
Experts stress that rapid actions must be taken to prevent things from getting out of control. Immediate political intervention, according to them, is absolutely necessary to check the onslaught of global economic demands for such destruction of forests.
“Unless the global community now acts, there will be tremendous impacts not just for the Amazon but for the world as a whole,” warned the scientists.
A second scientific review, besides deforestation, focuses on anthropogenic disturbances-human-caused disruptions-and their role in accelerating the decline of the Amazon. Factors such as wildfires, extreme drought linked to climate change, selective logging, and habitat fragmentation are exacerbating the rainforest’s degradation.
Observations reveal that approximately 965,000 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers)—nearly 40% of the remaining Amazon forest—are currently damaged due to these disturbances. Alarmingly, this damage produces carbon emissions that surpass those caused by deforestation alone.
@Science
Experts stress that regardless of deforestation rates, such disturbances remain a dominant source of carbon emissions, driving further environmental instability.
A dual approach: politics and integrated solutions
Political action is not enough to solve the crisis. According to scientists, integrated measures that take into consideration the anthropogenic disturbances consuming the fragile environment of the Amazon are much needed.
Both studies clearly point out that the future of the Amazon-and, to a great extent, of the planet-depends upon the global community’s ability for decisive and responsible action.
Source: Science
