Natural and Human Threats to the Amazon’s Ecological Treasure

Rapid rise in global warming is expected to get worse as the world’s most important natural land sink for carbon dioxide – the Amazon rainforest – is facing threat from both natural and anthropogenic causes. On the one hand, the forest is being affected by drought while another threat to its ecological treasure lies ahead in the form of the human quest for fossil fuels.

Continual research on the Amazon rainforest, recently recapitulated in an international study led by Professor Oliver Phillips of the University of Leeds, has found an alarming rate of increase in the incidence of ‘tree deaths’ due to drought. According to the research, involving more than the 60 scientists from over 40 institutions in 13 countries, the CO2-absorbing capacity of the forest is steadily declining as drought is causing the death of more trees each year. This is particularly the case with Amazon’s palm trees, which are highly sensitive to dry climate.

The drought assumed the worst form in Amazon in 2005 when the absorption of huge quantities of CO2 was reversed, speeding up the rate of global warming. The annual absorption capacity of Amazon’s vegetation is an estimated 2 billion tons of CO2 per year. The total impact of the existing drought on Amazon rainforest is estimated to let more CO2 stay in the atmosphere than the total annual CO2 emissions of Europe and Japan. The world’s largest rainforest is therefore approaching a state of natural inability to draw down CO2 from the environment, meaning not only a significant rise in global warming but also a threat to the region’s biodiversity.

Adding to the natural threat of the drought is the human quest for exploring oil and gas in the western Amazon. In a story by Ian Sample, published in The Guardian (August 2008), environmental researchers voiced their concern over the threat to Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity by the prospective exploration of oil and gas in large parts of the Amazon’s west, especially in Bolivia and Brazil. Mapping of the region reveals that biodiversity is at peak in the blocks rich in fossil fuels, covering more than half of the Amazon. Oil companies will need to cut into the forest’s vegetation for carrying out exploration, for years, and the subsequent construction of roads and infrastructure will do enormous damage to the forest’s biodiversity as well as its capacity as a carbon dioxide sink. For this reason, environmentalists have asked the international community to reconsider their plans for exploring Amazon for fuel reserves.

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4 Responses to “Natural and Human Threats to the Amazon’s Ecological Treasure”

1. Nadine says:

   November 15, 2009 at 12:06 am

   Hey there!
   Very intriguing post, and I am so shocked to see what us humans are doing. Destroying vital forest ecosystem, logging and deforestation will make rich plants perish and this is what we make our medicines of!
   Unbelievable! We take from the forests but we do not give them what they need, survival. If only humans knew how important rain forests are to our lives, they’d stop this nonsense immediately.
   Yours Sincerely,
   Year 7 student,
   Nadine
2. Dhir says:

   March 20, 2010 at 7:04 am

   hi, i am a student in the second grade. We were given a research on natural threats to our forests. i found lots of information…but i must add that yours was the only one that i understood well. it has helped me with completing my assignment and having a better understanding how not only are there natural threats set to destroying our forest but we humans are doubling these effects. thanks. i wish in the future i find more articles like yours.
3. admin says:

   March 23, 2010 at 10:47 am

   Thank You. We hope you visit our website often.
4. Dylan says:

   March 30, 2010 at 2:34 am

   Thanks for publishing this i am in year even and i am doing a project on the Amazon this article really helped