The Amazon Rainforest Is In Danger

The recent president elect of Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to bring large and possibly world-wide spread climate changes, because of his new plans for the Amazon forest. The worry about his new policies come from his campaign promises, which will undo much of the work done in the 20th and 21st century which safeguarded a large part of the Amazon from excessive deforestation. He plans to open up mining on indigenous reserves, relax environmental law enforcement, ban certain environmental NGOs such as WWF and Greenpeace from the country, and back out of the Paris climate accord among many other anti-environmental policies. This increase in deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest is concerning, because it would lead to unprecedented loss of vegetation, and contribute to the continuous decline of the world’s climate stability. This is all in an attempt to boost the economy for Brazil, as well as supply for increasing demand for major commodities like soybeans and beef.

Coming from the name itself, a rainforest is responsible for much of its own rain, as well as rain in surrounding areas, and it can even affect global precipitation patterns. This idea applies to the Amazon on a much broader scale, because of its expansive size. Water comes from the Atlantic, falling to the forest as rain. This rain then makes its way through the vegetation and in turn returning to the atmosphere. It’s estimated that the forest can produce at least half of its own rain, recycling water molecules up to seven times before leaving this large system. As it increasingly appears, this system is in an equilibrium that heavily relies on every element working just so. But with the increase in logging, land-clearing, mining, and other disruptive activities, this has lead the forest to dry out and lose more of its moisture, creating a feedback loop that continues to dry the most susceptible parts of the forest.

Why does this matter?

The Amazon is in a constant change of state, as is the rest of the world’s forests, but in recent years this change has gotten more drastic. The dry and wet seasons have oscillated more than has ever been seen, leading to more droughts and floods that disrupt the system. While this has an obvious effect on the forest and immediate ecosystem, it also works its way into changing the world’s climate. The Amazon helps to provide water to the farmers clearing the forests in the first place, which could decrease their water supply and the water supply for Brazilian cities. It’s also speculated that this decrease in forest would affect water supplies in places as far away as Africa or California, because of global precipitation patterns.

Taking this altogether, it’s very clear that the continued degradation of the Amazon will have an impact not only on the immediate ecosystem itself, but will also affect the entire globe. Protective measures should be in place to protect the habitat for the species that live there and to safeguard the future ecosystem and climate.

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