University of Edinburgh scientists say that we have caused more damage than 10% to Amazon’s rainforest since the 1960s. They also claim that deforestation is contributing to higher levels of carbon dioxide, which has increased the likelihood of global warming. Amazon Basin covers 2.7 million sq. miles (7 million km2), of which approximately 2.1 million sq. miles (5.25 million km2) are rainforest. This is more than all of Europe’s 1. 707 millions of square miles (or ,422million square kilometers). The Amazon is home to more than half the remaining rainforests on Earth. It comprises the biggest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with about 390 billion trees divided into 16,000 species. The Amazon rainforest’s ability to absorb carbon is being reduced, and this will likely lead to the loss or many species of animal and plant life. Mathew Williams, Jean-Francois Exbrayat and the National Centre for Earth Observation at the University explained that approximately 1.5% of all the rise in CO2 levels since mid-century was due to deforestation of Amazon. The total amount of carbon in the atmosphere was only marginally increased by this, compared with fossil fuel emissions which are the major culprit. According to the authors, this is the first study that shows how Amazon’s deforestation has affected the ability of the Amazon to store carbon. If deforestation had not taken place, the Amazon rainforest would be 12% richer in vegetation. The area it would cover is also much larger. The impact of fossil fuel burning is reduced by plants. Plants absorb large amounts CO2 from the air to help them grow. They help reduce climate change by reducing the speed of global warming and offset some of the carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Williams, Exbrayat, and their team created road maps that showed how large the Amazon rainforest could be if it was not for humans to deforest large parts of it. Satellite photographs of high resolution were unavailable before the beginning of the 21st century. The scientists created virtual models in order to see how the Amazon has changed over the past decades. They examined the models and calculated the impact of the Amazon’s loss on its ability to absorb carbon. Possible loss of species and animals Exbrayat said: “Our research indicates that large-scale forest destruction has had a partial offset by continued regrowth of the vegetation, in spite of sustained human activity.” This study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council grant. Carbon absorption capacity has fallen 50% from 1990s. In March, Exbrayat explained that the Amazon’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere had dropped by about 50% in comparison with 1990s. A separate study by researchers at the University of Leeds, England found that Amazon’s carbon capture rate reached an all-time high of 2 billion tonnes annually in the 1990.. Unfortunately, the Amazon is not able absorb any fossil fuel emissions from Latin America. Roel Brienen was the lead author. He stated that tree mortality rates had increased more than three times since mid -1980s. This is impacting the Amazon’s ability to store carbon. Citation: Jean Francois Exbrayat, Mathew Wilkins. Geophysical Research Letter. “Quantifying historical Amazonian forest deforestation’s net contribution to climate change. Publised 19th April, 2015. DOI: 10.1002/2015GL063497. BBC Video: Amazon Deforestation and Brazil’s Drought
