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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

12/09/24 10:59 AM IST

40% Amazon rainforest unprotected

In News
  • Nearly 40% of the areas of the Amazon rainforest most critical to curbing climate change have not been granted special government protection.
Satellite data
  • Amazon Conservation analysed new data from the satellite imaging company Planet that used lasers to get a three dimensional picture of the forest and combined it with machine-learning models.
  • Only aboveground vegetation was considered, and not underground carbon in roots and soils.
  • MAAP’s analysis shows that 61% of the peak carbon areas in the Amazon are protected as indigenous reserves or other protected lands, but the rest generally has no official designation.
  • In Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana, only 51% of peak carbon areas are labeled for preservation.
  • Peru protects a higher proportion of its critical areas, but some of the areas that have been left unprotected have been earmarked for logging.
Significance of Amazon
  • MAAP published an analysis last month showing that the Amazon contained 71.5 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly double the global carbon dioxide emissions for 2022.
  • That analysis showed that the Amazon just barely absorbed more carbon than it released in the decade leading up to 2022, a positive signal for the world’s climate.
  • But that remains an area of intense debate, with other studies showing the Amazon has flipped to become an emissions source.
  • As the effects of anthropogenic climate change become more stark with each passing day, the Amazon becomes one of the most valuable assets for the planet’s health.
  • Scientists say that if the Amazon becomes an emission source instead of a carbon sink — which absorbs carbon from the atmosphere — the impact on the planet may be cataclysmic.
Source- Indian Express

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