Page 11 - VUCA CHRONICLES SEPTEMBER 2019 EDITION

THE BURNING RAINFORESTS

OF AMAZON

THE BURNING RAINFORESTs OF The vast tropical rainforests in the Amazon River basin are often

AMAZON called the “lungs of the planet.” Some people claim that the
Amazon Rainforest alone supplies 20 percent of Earth's Oxygen

needs.
As the region experiences a record number of fires in 2019,

some people are wondering what would happen to Earth's
oxygen supply if the entire rainforest were to

burn away. Would Earth lose 20
percent of its oxygen?

The short answer is no- Earth would

not lose 20 percent of its oxygen if
the Amazon Rainforest was lost.

We learnt at school that plants
produce oxygen as a by-product of

photosynthesis. Therefore, it may
seem reasonable to think that one of the

largest visible regions of photosynthesis on earth
may be a very important source of oxygen.

However, relationships between tropical forests and oxygen

are more complicated. It is true that living plants produce
oxygen.

However, most of this oxygen anyway gets used up by dying,
rotting and burning plants, during decomposition and
combustion.

v o l a t i l e U n c e r t a i n C o m p l e x A m b i g u o u s

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S o u r c e : J o h n R a ff e r t y, 2 8 A u g 1 9 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9