Are Brazil’s Rainforests in Danger?

 

The United Nations Climate Summit takes place next week in Poland. About 20,000 people from 190 countries are expected to take part in the conference.

There, world leaders will debate how to limit climate change -- the weather events linked to slowly rising temperatures on Earth. They will discuss ways to reduce carbon emissions¹ and other pollution which, scientists say, can cause long-term changes to our planet.

For environmentalists, one area of concern is South America’s Amazon rainforest. Studies have shown that the Amazon takes in as much as 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year and releases 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen.

About 60 percent of the rainforest is in Brazil. Scientists wonder it will be protected under Brazil’s next president, Jair Bolsonaro. He takes office on January 1.

Bolsonaro has said that his country should withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement. Under the agreement, most nations promised to reduce carbon emissions 37 percent over 2005 levels by the year 2030.

The president-elect claims a mandate² from voters to develop land for agriculture and other purposes. He said that Brazil’s rainforest protections are standing³ in the way of economic success.

Scientists say deforestation is a major reason for climate change. Studies have linked rising temperatures to the destruction of forests. Scientists worry about the future of the Amazon. New Brazilian government records show the speed of deforestation has increased over the past year.

Carlos Nobre is a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo. He told the Associated Press that it is almost impossible to say just how important the rainforest is to the planet’s living systems.

Some scientists call the Amazon “the lungs of the planet.” They liken it to human lungs. Each tree takes in and stores carbon dioxide from the air around it. The trees also release the oxygen we need to live.

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, also creates weather. Billions of trees pull up water through their roots. Then the trees release water vapor⁴ into the air. The vapor forms a thick mist, made up of tiny drops of water. These water particles move up into the clouds and later return to Earth as rainfall.

Scientists estimate that the Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall.

During the election campaign, Bolsonaro promised to ease protections for areas of the Brazilian Amazon set aside for native peoples and wildlife. He said that indigenous⁵ lands and nature reserves restrict economic growth. “All these reserves cause problems to development,” he said.

The president-elect also talked about taking away the power of Brazil’s environmental ministry⁶ to enforce laws for protecting the environment.

Paulo Artaxo is a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo. He said that if Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, then “deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet.”

Artaxo spoke⁷ to the Associated Press (AP).

Bolsonaro’s team did not answer a request from the AP for comment.

Some of Bolsonaro’s support comes from business and farming groups.

One supporter, senator-elect Luiz Carlos Heinze, noted⁸ that farmers “are not invaders⁹, they are producers.” He blamed the past administrations for supporting native rights at the expense of farmers.

“Brazil,” he said,” will be the biggest farming nation on Earth during Bolsonaro’s years."

Scientists warn that if the Amazon and other tropical rainforests lose too many trees, this could affect rainfall in other areas. Nobre and others estimate that the “tipping” point for the Amazon system is 20 to 25 percent deforestation.

Without enough trees to support the rainfall, the longer and bigger dry season could turn more than half of the rainforest into a tropical grassland¹⁰. That finding was published in February in the journal Science Advances.

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

emissions - n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

mandate - v. an official order to do something

vapor - n. ?a substance that is in the form of a gas or that consists of very small drops or particles mixed with the air?

indigenous - adj. produced, living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

tropical - adj.? of, relating to, occurring in, or used in the tropics?

tipping - adj.

1 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

10 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。