Deforestation and agricultural activities have increased carbon dioxide emissions in tropical regions by 20%. Scientists are sounding the alarm: rainforests will soon no longer cope with so much CO₂.
The "lungs of the planet", as rainforests are often called, already generate roughly equal amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Rapid deforestation is pushing the balance towards CO₂. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh predict that the tropical jungle may soon become one of the causes of global warming from an ally in the fight against global warming.
Environmentalists urge the world community to take urgent measures to protect the forest cover of the Earth. “Our study shows that forests will soon be unable to withstand rising temperatures and will start generating greenhouse gases,” says Professor Ed Mitchard, one of the study's co-authors.
So far, the increasing amount of CO₂ stimulates plant growth - but replacing forests with agricultural land in the near future can radically change the situation. Livestock, which is actively developing in the tropical countries of South America, also makes a significant contribution to global warming. This industry is the largest source of greenhouse gases, primarily methane. The greenhouse activity of this gas per 100 years is about 28 times higher than that of CO₂.
