Representatives of eight South American governments are gathering in Brazil this week to talk about the Amazon rainforest. Here's a rundown of the Amazon's importance, the threats it faces and possible solutions.
BELEM, Brazil — The Amazon rainforest is a massive area, twice the size of India and sprawling across eight countries and one territory. It's a crucial carbon sink for the climate, has about 20% of the world's freshwater reserves and boasts astounding biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS TO THE AMAZON BIOME?Deforestation ranks first. The Amazon biome has lost more than 85 million hectares , or about 13% of its original area, according to the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Pact. It emits more than every other country with Amazon rainforest: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana and the territory of French Guiana.
COULD DEFORESTATION REACH A 'TIPPING POINT'?Oft-quoted research by Earth system scientist Carlos Nobre and late environmental scientist Thomas Lovejoy estimated that 20% to 25% deforestation would be a critical threshold for the Amazon. The resulting decline in rainfall would transform more than half of the Amazon to tropical savannah, with great biodiversity loss, they said.
But that also helped lawbreakers reach pristine areas to extract ancient hardwood timber and clear forest for ranching. The roads have been called"arteries of destruction" and often generate deforestation resembling a fish skeleton, with smaller dirt roads branching off the spine of an official road.
CAN THE AMAZON BE DEVELOPED WITHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION?The Amazon is so big and complex that there's no single solution for developing different regions, said Marcelo Salazar, a veteran of environmental nonprofit and consultancy work who now leads a company making food supplements with natural products from the Amazon.
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