The South American jungle, spanning nine countries, is seen as crucial to the fight against climate change due to its ability to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
RAISG experts reported an “accelerated transformation” of the Amazon, with an “alarming increase” in the use of land previously occupied by forest for mining, crops, or livestock.
“A large number of ecosystems have disappeared to give way to immense expanses of pastures, soybean fields or other monocultures, or have been transformed into craters for gold mining,” they said.
“With the loss of the forest, we emit more carbon into the atmosphere and this disrupts an entire ecosystem that regulates the climate and the hydrological cycle, clearly affecting temperatures,” Sandra Rio Caceres, from the Institute of the Common Good — a Peruvian association that took part in the study — told AFP.
She said […]
It’s nice to say that the destruction of the Amazon Rain forest is due to the greed of humanity. Although that’s generally true, it distorts the full picture. The reason why this rain forest is being decimated is the same reason coral reefs are being destroyed, air quality is degraded, and we are living with PFAS in our food, water, and bodies. Everyone wants to live a western lifestyle. When discussion regarding conservation, and environmental protection occurs everyone one is for it, along with the same caveat: “You go first”. Look in mirror folks. Enjoy vacations in far away places? Like to use all of those electricity sucking devices? Until we are ready to discipline ourselves we should not be looking down on others for trying to improve their living standard. The truth of the matter is all of us will need to restrain our lifestyle. We don’t need to return to the middle ages, but we will need to live on less. To conduct ourselves otherwise is to doom future generations to misery.