Photo: Kinal Shinde
The Amazon rainforest now emits more CO2 than it can absorb, amounting to a billion tons a year. It had previously been a carbon sink. Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many set to clear land for beef and soy production. Even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2, rather than a sink. Growing trees and plants have taken up about a quarter of all fossil fuel emissions since 1960, with the Amazon playing a major role as the largest tropical forest. The government of Brazil’s president, Bolsonaro, has been harshly criticized for encouraging more deforestation, which has surged to a 12-year high, while fires hit their highest level in June since 2007. Burning produces around three times more CO2 than the forest absorbs, and the places where deforestation is 30% or more show carbon emissions 10 times higher than where deforestation is lower than 20%.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/14/amazon-rainforest-now-emitting-more-co2-than-it-absorbs