Amazon Rainforest wildfires Introduction
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The Amazon rainforest is considered the "lungs of the Earth" due to its ability to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, deforestation over recent decades has reduced forest cover and increased wildfires. Deforestation is primarily driven by cattle ranching and agriculture, including soybean production. This has negative environmental impacts like increased greenhouse gas emissions, reduced biodiversity, and effects on indigenous groups. Wildfires in 2019 were especially severe due to climate change producing a longer dry season and higher temperatures that year.
Amazon Rainforest wildfires Introduction
- 3. TOPICS Importance of Amazon rainforest and why it is considered as lungs of earth. Effects and impacts of deforestation in the amazon rainforest since past decade. 2019 Brazil dry season fires and responses of Brazilian government and also protests against Brazilian government policies. Impacts on indigenous people of Brazil. It describes the health impacts due to the smoke from wildfires. It explains the environmental impacts (Biodiversity, Emissions) of the wildfires on earth. It includes political and economic losses due to these wildfires. It involves serious measures to save the world's lungs.
- 4. IMPORTANCE OF AMAZON RAINFOREST The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world. It has an area of 5,500,000 km2. It represents over half of the planet's rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse sector of tropical rainforest in the world. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60%, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and France (French Guiana). Amazon rainforest borders these countries and has the world's largest river basin and is the source of 1/5 of the Earth's river water.
- 5. The Amazon Rainforest is popularly known as the ‘Lungs of Earth’ due to its capability of absorbing about 25% of the earth’s total carbon dioxide emission. It behaves similarly to a pair of human lungs, absorbing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen. This is a huge biodiversity to thousands of plant species and is on the verge of being destroyed by human activity and climate changes. Recent studies have been published stating that till now, the rain forest has accumulated around 11000 metric tons of carbon.
- 6. DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST Amazon wildfires caused due to slash and burn approach to deforest land for agriculture and effects of climate change due to unusually longer dry season and above average temperatures around worldwide during July and August (Summer in Southern Hemisphere). This climate changes are due to deforestation in Amazon rainforest and also deforestation in forests surrounding this Amazon rainforest. Deforestation effects both evaporation and evapotranspiration phenomenon’s from hydrological cycle. If there is absence of plants and trees, there will be absence of evapotranspiration which affects the rainfall from that plants and trees. Hence there will be reduction of water in water bodies which led to decrease in evaporation.
- 7. Deforestation effect on Hydrological Cycle This climate changes are due to deforestation in Amazon rainforest and also deforestation in forests surrounding this Amazon rainforest. Because this deforestation effects both evaporation and evapotranspiration phenomenon’s from hydrological cycle. Water enters atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration from leaves and these water condenses to droplets and falls from atmosphere as precipitation. This precipitated water returns to hydrosphere by runoff and to lithosphere by infiltration. If there is absence of plants and trees, there will be absence of evapotranspiration which reduces the rainfall from that plants and trees which will lead to water crisis.
- 10. Deforestation since past decade Based on data from the National Institute for Space Research and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) several graphs plotted to describe effects of deforestation. Graph between Estimated remaining forest cover VS Period from 1970 to 2018 shows that variation of decrease of forest cover over years. Graph between Total forest loss from 1970 VS Period (from 1970 to 2018) shows the variation of increase of forest loss over years.
- 11. Period Estimated remaining forest cover in the Brazilian Amazon Annual forest loss (km2) % of 1970 cover remaining Total forest loss since 1970 (km2) Pre–1970 4,100,000 — — — 1977 3,955,870 21,130 96.50% 144,130 1978–1987 3,744,570 21,130 91.30% 355,430 1988 3,723,520 21,050 90.80% 376,480 1989 3,705,750 17,770 90.40% 394,250 1990 3,692,020 13,730 90.00% 407,980 1991 3,680,990 11,030 89.80% 419,010 1992 3,667,204 13,786 89.40% 432,796 1993 3,652,308 14,896 89.10% 447,692 1994 3,637,412 14,896 88.70% 462,588 1995 3,608,353 29,059 88.00% 491,647 1996 3,590,192 18,161 87.60% 509,808 1997 3,576,965 13,227 87.20% 523,035 1998 3,559,582 17,383 86.80% 540,418 1999 3,542,323 17,259 86.40% 557,677 2000 3,524,097 18,226 86.00% 575,903 2001 3,505,932 18,165 85.50% 594,068 2002 3,484,281 21,651 85.00% 615,719 2003 3,458,885 25,396 84.40% 641,115 2004 3,431,113 27,772 83.70% 668,887 2005 3,412,099 19,014 83.20% 687,901 2006 3,397,814 14,285 82.90% 702,186 2007 3,386,163 11,651 82.60% 713,837 2008 3,373,252 12,911 82.30% 726,748 2009 3,365,788 7,464 82.10% 734,212 2010 3,358,788 7,000 81.90% 741,212 2011 3,352,370 6,418 81.80% 747,630 2012 3,347,799 4,571 81.70% 752,201 2013 3,341,908 5,891 81.50% 758,092 2014 3,336,896 5,012 81.40% 763,104 2015 3,330,689 6,207 81.20% 769,311 2016 3,322,796 7,893 81.00% 777,204 2017 3,315,849 6,947 80.90% 784,151 2018 3,307,949 7,900 80.70% 792,051
- 12. • 4,100,000 3,307,949 3,200,000 3,300,000 3,400,000 3,500,000 3,600,000 3,700,000 3,800,000 3,900,000 4,000,000 4,100,000 4,200,000 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Estimatedremainingamazoninkm2 Period (from 1970 to 2018) Estimated remaining forest cover in the Brazilian Amazon
- 13. 144,130 792,051 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Totalforestlosssince1970inKm2 Period from 1970 to 2018
- 14. The cattle sector of the Brazilian Amazon encouraged by the International Beef and Leather Trades, has been responsible for about 80% of all deforestation in the region, or about 14% of the world's total annual deforestation, making it the world's largest single driver of deforestation. By 1995, 70% of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970 had been converted to cattle ranching. Much of the remaining deforestation within the Amazon has resulted from farmers clearing land (sometimes using the slash-and-burn method) for small-scale subsistence agriculture or mechanized cropland producing soy, palm, and other crops.
- 15. CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION Cattle ranching and infrastructure: Forest removal to make way for cattle ranching was the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from the mid-1960s on. Cattle ranching is not an environmentally friendly investment though. Cattle emit large amounts of methane. These emissions play a major role in climate change because methane's ability to trap heat is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide in a time horizon of 100 years and exponentially higher in shorter time horizons. Hydroelectric Dams: Construction of these dams has encouraged the construction of roads which in turn leads to deforestation. These dams often flood vast areas of rain forest, leading to a major loss of biodiversity and the devastating displacement of indigenous communities from their ancestral lands.
- 16. Mining activities: Mining has also increased deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, particularly since the 1980s, with miners often clearing forest to open the mines or to provide building material, collecting wood for fuel and subsistence agriculture. Soybean production: Brazil is currently the second-largest global producer of soybeans after the United States. As prices for soybeans have risen, soy farmers have pushed north into the forested areas of the Amazon. As stated in the Constitution of Brazil, clearing land for crops or fields is considered an "effective use" of land and is the first step toward land ownership. This led to deforestation.
- 17. Logging: The economic opportunity for developing regions is driven by timber export and demand for charcoal. Up to 60 to 80% of logging in Brazil is estimated to be illegal. Most illegal logging companies are international companies that don't replant the trees and the practice is extensive. A tree can absorb 48 pounds of carbon per year. So illegal logging has a major impact on climate change.
- 18. Cattle Ranching
- 20. Mining Activity
- 22. Logging
- 23. EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION Climate Change: The most recent survey greenhouse gas emissions reports that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is responsible for 10% of current greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiversity: With rapid deforestation, the habitats of many animals and plants are under threat. The Brazilian Amazon is known to possess vast resources for medicine to find a cure for major global killers such as AIDS, cancer, and other terminal diseases. Indigenous people
- 24. Land degradation: If too much timber is cut, soil leads to erosion and degradation of soil fertility. Pollution: Exploitation of forests for mining activities such as gold mining significantly increased the risk of mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning can affect the food chain and wildlife on lands, rivers. It can also affect plants and the crops of farmers trying to farm forest areas. Water Supply: Deforestation increased the impacts of the droughts in 2005, 2010, and 2015-2016. Impact on local temperature: In 2019, a group of scientists published research suggesting that deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest would raise the temperature in Brazil by 1.45 degrees.
- 25. AMAZON RAINFOREST WILDFIRES OVER PAST YEARS This amazon wildfires caused due to slash and burn approach to deforest land for agriculture and effects of climate change due to unusually longer dry season and above average temperatures around worldwide during July and August (Summer in Southern Hemisphere). This % of wildfires detected by INPE over past years shown below in the pie-chart. This pie chart shows more number of wildfires are resulted in 2019.This what created more awareness regarding this rainforest.
- 26. 9% 15% 14% 18% 14% 11% 19% No. of wildfires detected by INPE 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 This percentages (%) indicates number of wildfires from 2013-2019
- 27. Question to you? Generally wildfires occur in summer(April – may) in India, but why are these amazon wildfires occur in the period July to august?
- 28. • Because Brazil is in southern hemisphere and India is in northern hemisphere.