Latest data from Brazil’s satellites reveals Earths lungs are reaching tipping point. Their capacity to filter carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is diminishing each time a tree falls to a logger in the Amazon jungle. This violent abuse of our planet is destroying the sustainability of indigenous tribes. They could teach us so much about how they prosper without relying on our technology.
Earths Lungs Shrank by 519 Square Miles in July
July 2019 logging was a third higher than any month since 2015 according to Quartz.Com. We lost an area twice the size of Tokyo that month. The office fell silent as we turned to Google Earth and took the screenshots that fill this post.
Our hearts ached when the focus cleared. The people in Brazil must have work, they must eat, and they must have homes. That much we are in agreement with. However we cannot be silent when we hear Earths lungs are in danger of reaching a tipping point. The Amazon forest could turn into a savanna, scientists say, and signal the end of the trees forever.
The Amazon Rain Forest Contains 10% of Earths Biomass
We destroyed many of our own forests in the quadrant of the world we call ‘the west’. Did you know oak trees once covered England until our ancestors chopped them down to build armadas of mighty wooden sailing ships. This thoughtlessness in the name of progress has happened many times before, now it is happening again.
The Amazon forest is a critical part of Earths lungs that filter carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The river running through it contains 20% of Earth’s water. The forest nurtures a third of all known terrestrial plant, animal and insect species. The trees have soaked up greenhouse gases. They are releasing them into the atmosphere and loggers are burning them as you read.
Meanwhile, the world sleeps on while the nations bicker endlessly over narrow, selfish interests. Approximately 18% of the Amazon forest vanished since the 1950’s. That’s equivalent to the size of Texas. Up to 50% of what is left is now partly destroyed, according to Rain Forest Foundation Norway.
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Preview Image: Brazil’s Northern Province Roraima (Google Earth)
