Amazon Rainforest
According to a new report ‘Living Amazon Report’ 2022 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), some 35% of the rainforest is either totally lost or highly degraded.
The report was released at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
What Are The Highlights of The Report
Vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest, which serve as carbon sinks and the planet’s lungs, are in crisis.
Some 35% of the rainforest is either totally lost or highly degraded, while another 18% have been converted for other purposes.
Amazon forests are threatened due to deforestation, fires and degradation.
Surface water has been lost and rivers are increasingly disconnected and polluted.
This immense pressure will irreversibly damage the Amazon and the planet in general very shortly.
Economic activities, most notably extensive cattle ranching and agriculture, illegal activities and poorly planned infrastructure, threaten the region and cause deforestation and degradation throughout the biome, with many areas severely affected.
Nearly 600 infrastructure projects are in operation along rivers in the Amazon.
Some 20 planned road projects, 400 operating or planned dams and numerous mining projects continue to dump chemicals such as mercury into the rivers
What Are The Amazon Rainforests
These are large tropical rainforests occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America and covering an area of 6,000,000 square km.
Tropical forests are closed-canopy forests growing within 28 degrees north or south of the equator.
They are very wet places, receiving more than 200 cm rainfall per year, either seasonally or throughout the year.
Temperatures are uniformly high - between 20°C and 35°C.
Such forests are found in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and on many of the Pacific Islands.
Comprising about 40% of Brazil’s total area, it is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountains to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
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