Why There Is No Future Without The Amazon
What forest produces ⅓ of the oxygen in our world, and ⅕ of our freshwater? What forest is essential for the survival of Earth? The Amazon Rainforest is probably the most important forest in the world, and yet it is still being cut down. If we want to preserve Earth, we have to preserve the Amazon Rainforest. There is no future without it.
Did you know that a tree takes in 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year?1 This means that in five years, 240 pounds of carbon dioxide is absorbed. But to neutralize the carbon dioxide that a single person pollutes with clean air, you need 730 trees.2 If it takes so many trees to offset a single person, doesn’t that mean we should be saving and planting more trees instead of chopping them down? Planting trees is one of the easiest things that we can do to save the environment, as they are so important to ecosystems. Many trees that are being cut down in the Amazon are for farms because of the increase in demand for meat. One way that we can prevent this deforestation is by decreasing the amount of meat we eat. This does not mean eliminating it from our diet, but lessening the amount of it.
It’s easy to say go plant a tree, but when you start to think about actually planting one, it is a little more complex. Where will you put it? How many will you plant? In 2019, the Zürich Crowther lab did a study that said that there is room to plant about 1.2 trillion more trees on Earth. If we plant all of these trees, they would absorb over a sixth of the amount of carbon dioxide humans have ever produced. If we can restore the land that has been turned into farmland in the Amazon, then this will help the climate fight as 17% of it has been destroyed 3.
Another piece of information that is important to know when thinking about planting trees is that all trees will release a portion of the carbon dioxide that they absorbed when they die. Eventually, all of it will be released. This is another reason why it is so important that we continue to plant trees and restore ecosystems, because if we don’t, all of the carbon dioxide that we have produced will be set free from the trees, and new trees need to be on Earth to absorb it again.
It’s time to plant more trees, not just in the Amazon Rainforest, but in other areas as well. When fighting deforestation, the best thing that we can do to help is to plant more trees and support efforts to preserve existing trees. This is one of the most effective ways to fight climate change, and planting trees is something that we all can do. 🌳💚🌱
Image Credit: Johnston, Nate. “waterfall beside trees photo.” Unsplash, 30 July 2019, https://unsplash.com/photos/BW9bM5UoLk4
- https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/03/17/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Arbor%20Day,and%20release%20oxygen%20in%20exchange.
- https://iee.psu.edu/news/blog/how-many-trees-are-needed-take-carbon-dioxide-i-release-every-day
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/deforestation#:~:text=About%2017%20percent%20of%20the,have%20been%20on%20the%20rise.
So interesting that there is still so much space to plant, great research!
Once again, very nice post Julia! I did not know trees release their carbon dioxide when cut down!
My kids Cassandra (5) and Michael (almost 4) are learning about the rainforest in daycare this week! They come home excited to tell me about all the interesting animals that live in the rainforest. Cutting down the trees not only affects our air quality but affects the ecosystem in which many animals thrive in. So sad!
I teach the kids all the time about waste and that even small things can go a long way. For example, not wasting napkins by grabbing one to wipe up a small drip and throwing it away immediately. I try to encourage them to use a smaller napkin or better yet a sponge instead. (My husband teases me if I rip a very large napkin in half.) They wash their hands and use a towel instead of a paper towel. I remind them to not run the water while washing hands and brushing teeth too as the energy used to provide a clean water source is also wasted.
At work we have eliminated most paper forms and use electronics. Don’t get me started about the countless catalogs and ads sent in the mail! I cancel them immediately. It’s important we vote for politicians that will enact laws to prevent future deforestation.
I hope all these small things we do go a long way!
Hi Maria!
Thank you so much for your comments! I love how involved you are in eliminating waste and taking action. If we were all like you, the amount of waste in the world and harmful effects on ecosystems would be much less! Thank you so much again for reading!