- The Amazon rainforest provides up to 20% of the world’s oxygen, but its destruction could cause it to not only stop helping the planet, but start releasing carbon and worsening climate change.
- In a “dieback” scenario, rising temperatures could dry trees, meaning they absorb less carbon and become more flammable, eventually turning the rainforest into a savannah and releasing billions of tons of stored carbon.
- Researchers have debated the likelihood of the scenario, but fears have heightened under Brazil’s new president, who has advocated expansion of industry in the region, which involves burning and cutting down trees.
- A record number of fires have hit the Amazon this year — more than 70,000 — and experts…
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Exposing the Big Game 