Death By Deforestation – The Amazon Rainforest
By Cara Scott
The Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It is home to 427 mammal species, 1,300 bird species, 378 species of reptiles, and over 400 species of amphibians as stated on the ‘World Atlas’ website. However, the effects of climate change are having a major impact on the rainforest and the species within.
Amazon Rainforest (Flickr)
Deforestation is a significant issue in the Amazon. Not only does it take away animals and tribe’s homes, it is causing more CO2 to be released into the atmosphere. This means that heat will become trapped in our atmosphere, leading to global warming (a rise in global temperature). Deforestation also leads to soil erosion. A lack of tree cover means that rainfall is directly hitting the ground, causing the soil to wear away. This has an impact on the growth of crops as the soil is no longer suitable for growing crops, meaning that people would be likely to cut down more areas of the rainforest. This then will cause for less CO2 being absorbed by trees.
Deforestation (Flickr)
Outsiders from the rainforest also burn down trees to clear large areas of land for crops or to keep animals. This burning also releases CO2 into the atmosphere, again leading to global warming. In the beginning of 2021, it was discovered that the Amazon Rainforest releases more CO2 than it stores. 20% more CO2 is released into the atmosphere than the trees have absorbed between 2010-2019 in the Amazon Rainforest.
Rainforest Fire (Flickr)
In the past 100 years, the rainforest’s temperature has increased by a worrying 1-1.5 Degrees Celsius. The rainforest experiences a lot of rain (its in the name!). However, the dry season has increased from 4 months to near 5 months, which is linked to the increase in the temperature.
Amazon Rainforest (Flickr)
If we don’t act now about saving the Amazon, it may become too late. The Amazon Rainforest is a necessity, not only to save our climate, but to keep us alive as it is key in the production of oxygen which we need to survive.
Image 1: “Amazon rainforest near Puerto Maldonado” by Ivan Mlinaric is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Image 2: “Deforestation” by crustmania is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Image 3:“Fire in the Amazon” by Luísa Mota is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Image 4: “Amazon Rainforest” by CIFOR is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Amigo, I., 2021. When will the Amazon hit a tipping point?. [online] Nature.com. Available at: <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00508-4> [Accessed 4 November 2021].
McGrath, M., 2021. Climate change: Amazon regions emit more carbon than they absorb. [online] BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57839364> [Accessed 4 November 2021].
Dillinger, J., 2021. What Animals Live In The Amazon Rainforest?. [online] WorldAtlas. Available at: <https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-the-amazon-rainforest.html#:~:text=The%20Amazon%20Rainforest%20is%20home,frogs%2C%20and%20poison%20dart%20frogs.> [Accessed 4 November 2021].
