Scott Denning: The Amazon Fires Aren’t Depleting Earth’s Oxygen Supply
Fires in the Amazon
rainforest have captured
attention worldwide in recent days. Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019, pledged in his campaign to reduce
environmental protection and increase
agricultural development in the Amazon, and he appears to have followed
through on that promise.
The resurgence of
forest clearing in the Amazon, which had decreased
more than 80% following a peak in 2004, is alarming for many reasons.
Tropical forests harbor many species of plants and animals found nowhere else.
They are important refuges for indigenous people, and contain enormous stores
of carbon as wood and other organic matter that would otherwise contribute to
the climate crisis.
Some media accounts
have suggested that fires in the Amazon also threaten the atmospheric
oxygen that we breathe. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted on
Aug. 22 that “the Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produces 20% of
our planet’s oxygen – is on fire.” The oft-repeated claim
that the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen is based on a
misunderstanding. In fact nearly all of Earth’s breathable oxygen originated in
the oceans, and there is enough of it to last for millions of years. There are
many reasons to be appalled by this year’s Amazon fires, but depleting Earth’s
oxygen supply is not one of them.... read more:
