The Amazon Rainforest Biome of South America is approximately 6.7 million square kilometres. It spans across nine countries including Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guayana, French Guiana and Suriname, About 60% of the Amazon Basin is located within Brazil though.
Facts about the Amazon Rainforest -
- These forests are the largest tropical rainforests in the world.
- They are ecological wonders supporting the highest biodiversity anywhere in the world. As per some estimates, 30% of the world’s known species, as well as 390 billion trees belonging to over 16000 different species are found here.
- They are ecologically significant for the whole planet. They are responsible for about 20% of the world’s oxygen turnover and are called the ‘Lungs of the planet’.
- They regulate climate by carbon sequestration and regulating water vapour flows.
- The Amazon absorbs 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, which is about 5% of annual global C-emissions of around 40 billion tonnes. Thus, they are a vital part of preventing climate change,
- The Amazon Rainforest influences the water cycle not just regionally but also globally.
Relationship between Forests and Climate Change -
Forests play a major role in climate change:
- Forests hold more than 50% of the carbon that is stored in terrestrial vegetation and soil organic matter. Hence, deforestation contributes significantly to net emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
- Forests react sensitively to a changing climate. If the predicted global warming occurs, the impact on forests is likely to be regionally varied, dramatic, and long-lasting. Even now, we can see how any extreme weather has a great impact on forests. For example, the 1999 storms in Europe caused heavy damage to forests and trees outside forest areas.
- Climate change also causes more forest fires than usual. In many countries, there was an increase in wildfires during the 1990s compared to the previous decades, possibly due to climate change.
- When managed sustainably, forests produce fuelwood as a benign alternative to fossil fuels.
- Forest has the potential to absorb about one-tenth of global carbon emissions projected for the first half of this century into their biomass, soils, and products and store them -in principle in perpetuity.
Main Causes of the Amazon Forest Fires -
Every year, June to October is the relatively dry season (the dry season still has a lot of moisture, just markedly less than the wet season which sees daily rainfall) for the southern Amazon Basin. Fires can become a concern for the Amazon forests during this season.
Most of these fires are intentional or anthropogenic. They are set for clearing lands for farming (slash-and-burn agriculture) or converting forests into pasture lands for cattle. A few of the forest fires can also be natural/biogenic. They are caused by lightning or during the drought years of El Nino.
A Survey released by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in October 2021 showed that cattle pastures occupied 75% of the deforested area on public lands in the Amazon.
Other causes of deforestation include industrial purposes like timber, soya and palm oil plantation; infrastructure projects like roads, railways, mining and urbanisation; Illegal timber smuggling and forest fires due to deliberate acts of vandalism are also a leading cause of deforestation globally.
Fire is not Loyal to anyone, Stay away from it -
In 2019, large parts of Amazon rainforests were burning in Brazil. In August 2019, the country’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported that there were more than 80,000 fires. This was the highest ever recorded for the country. They were intentional fires set to clear the forest's land for activities like agribusiness expansion. In other words, these were the fires for deforestation. However, at the root of the problem is the laxity in environmental governance of the Brazilian government.
Uncontrolled Fire knows no Frontiers -
The fires caused vast destruction and deforestation. They destroyed the homes of indigenous tribes; caused immense damage to biodiversity; spewed greenhouse gases into the already warming atmospheric system and caused air pollution over major cities of the region.
Other consequences of forest fires and deforestation are -
- Biodiversity Loss and Loss of Ecosystem Services - Land degradation makes soil less fertile. This reduces the vegetative cover over the soil. In turn, the floral and faunal species diversity also declines. Any decline in biological diversity negatively affects ecosystem services as well. For example, degraded soils have poor water infiltration through them which reduces the recharge of groundwater aquifers. Similarly, the carbon sequestration capacity of such soils declines considerably. This exacerbates the existing climate change.
- Climate change - Land acts both as a carbon sink and a carbon source. It is a carbon sink as it absorbs carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. However, when the decomposition of dead organic matter takes place in soils, land emits greenhouse gases. Deforestation also leads to global warming by releasing carbon stored in the trees. If the trees burn, the carbon is released immediately. If the trees are cut and removed, half the carbon remains in the form of branches, twigs, etc. When they decompose, the carbon is slowly released.
- Change Rainfall Pattern - Studies have shown that about 97% of the water absorbed from the soil by the roots evaporates and falls back on land as precipitation. When a large forest is cut down, the regional rainfall pattern may be affected.
- Flooding and groundwater depletion - When the forest disappears, there is no regulation of the flow into rivers. As a result, floods and droughts alternate in the affected areas.
Deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation of forests affect many species and lead to the extinction of some. In particular, migratory birds and butterflies suffer due to the loss of their habitat.
The impact of forest fires and desertification on the human system are-
- Threats to Food Security and Livelihood Loss - Forest fires are potent to disrupt agricultural food production and threaten food security. As per the UN, by 2050, global food production will need to increase by 50% to feed the more than 9 billion people expected to live on our planet. However, it becomes challenging as land degradation and climate change together are predicted to reduce crop yields by an average of 10% globally. Reduced food security worsens the health of the poor across the world. Degraded lands also mean livelihood loss for the poorer sections like farmers and pastoralists. They are dependent on ecosystem services and natural capital for their sustenance.
- Increased Conflicts and Forced Displacement - In dryland or deforested areas, food insecurity and loss of livelihood exacerbate poverty. This often results in resource-driven conflicts. As per the UN, every 5% loss of gross domestic product (GDP), itself partly caused by deforestation or degradation, is associated with a 12% increase in the likelihood of violent conflict.
Prevention is better than Cure -
After the global and domestic furore from environmental civil society and the indigenous people of Brazil, the government finally took measures to control the fires.
As per a very recent editorial (December 2019) published in the journal Science Advances, some parts of the Amazon rainforests are slowly degrading. Global warming, deforestation and fire vulnerability have the ability to turn some 50-60% of the Amazon into a degraded savanna (tropical grasslands) and shrubland ecosystem by the mid-century. The temperature has risen some 2 degrees C and the dry season in the southern and central eastern Amazon is getting longer.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question - What is the Role of Forest Fires?
Answer - Wildfires, usually started by lightning have an ecological role. The combustion frees the minerals locked up in the dry organic matter. The mineral-rich ashes are necessary for the growth of plants. The vegetation usually flourishes after a fire.
Fires remove plant cover and expose the soil, which stimulates the germination of certain types of seeds. They also help control pathogens and harmful insects. Occasional fires burn away some of the dry organic matter and prevent more destructive fires from occurring later on. For all these reasons, the prevention of fires is not necessarily good for a forest.
Intentional or accidental human-induced fires do cause damage. Such fires have become a major problem problem in large forests, especially in countries like Canada and the US. In a number of developing countries, fires continue to be used for land clearing with adverse consequences.
Question -Where are the fires in the Amazon?
Answer -The Amazon Rainforest Biome of South America is approximately 6.7 million square kilometres. It spans across nine countries including Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guayana, French Guiana and Suriname. About 60% of the Amazon basin is located within Brazil though.
In the Brazilian Amazon, the states of Amazonas, Acre, and Rondonia- collectively known as the AMACRO Region -have suffered sizable fires and deforestation in recent years.
Question -What are the major consequences of Forest Fires?
Answer - There are many consequences of Forest Fires like -
- Biodiversity loss
- Climate Change
- Air Pollution
- Soil erosion and Land Degradation
- Flooding and groundwater depletion
- Decreased resilience in times of natural disasters like heavy precipitation, Tsunamis, cyclones
- Agriculture losses and food insecurity
Question - when is the Burning Season in the Amazon?
Answer - Every year, June to October, is the relatively dry season (the dry season still has a lot of moisture, just markedly less than the wet season which sees daily rainfall) for the southern Amazon Basin. Fires can become a concern for the Amazon forests during this season. Most of these fires are intentional or anthropogenic. They are set for clearing lands for farming (slash-and-burn agriculture) or converting forests into pasture lands for cattle. A few of the forest fires can also be natural/biogenic. They are caused by lightning or during the drought years of El Nino.
Question - Is the Amazon Still burning?
Answer - It is the saddest truth that the Amazon is still burning. Every year, June to October is the relatively dry season. Fires can become a concern for the Amazon forests during this season. But, it is increasingly likely that fires are burning in the Amazon at any time of the year, even outside of the dry season. Most of these fires are intentional or anthropogenic.
Also, check out my other articles - Deforestation and Land Degradation