The Amazon Helps to Regulate Global Climate, but is not the Lungs of the World

With 7% of the planet's total surface area, the Amazon is home to about 50% of the world's biodiversity. For many, it is considered the "lungs of the world". But can we consider this statement correct? According to Antonio Ocimar Manzi, coordinator of the National Institute of Amazonian Research (Inpa), the answer is no.

According to him, the vegetation, which grows through photosynthesis, captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases oxygen, unlike the lung that transforms oxygen from the atmosphere into carbon dioxide. The Amazon presents a very high rate of photosynthesis and, because of this, was for some decades compared to a large "inverted" lung, the "lungs of the world". However, the professor explains that the forest also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, by breathing of the plants, and in the process of decomposition of trunks, branches, dead leaves and animals.

Divided among nine Brazilian states: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and part of the state of Maranhão, the Amazon is considered a mature forest. Therefore, in principle, it is not correct to consider it the "lungs of the world".

"The concentration of oxygen is responsible for approximately 21% of the volume of the atmosphere, while the concentration of carbon dioxide is responsible for less than 0.04%. Therefore, even if the forest could remove all this carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the oxygen concentration of the atmosphere would change little," he explains.

On the other hand, recent research carried out by the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Program in the Amazon (LBA), coordinated by Inpa, has shown that the Amazon Forest is increasing its biomass, that is, it is removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it is emitting.

According to the researcher, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased a lot. This is due to the use of fossil fuels and the substitution of forest areas for agricultural production and construction of dams. With this, the Amazon forest is contributing, as would be expected by the so-called "lungs of the inverted world", to mitigate the effects of global warming.

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