A new study shows that human activity is pushing the Amazon rainforest to a tipping point where it can no longer support an abundance of life and protect the Earth from climate change.
A study published in the journal Science found that 38 percent of what is left of the world’s largest rainforest has been destroyed in some way by humans, noting that the effects of fires, deforestation and forest edges have degraded at least 5. 5 percent. (364,748 square kilometers) forests between 2001 and 2018.
If the effects of drought are taken into account, the degraded area increases to 2.5 million square kilometers, or 38% of the remaining forest.
“Extreme droughts are becoming more frequent in the Amazon as land-use change and human-induced climate change progress, affecting trees, fires and carbon emissions,” the researchers say.
Earlier this month, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed a major agreement to try to save the Amazon. And da Silva has breathed new life into the Amazon fund, which is investing in efforts to stop deforestation.
Source: axios
