What happens if the Amazon rainforest disappears?

The world's largest rain forest is declining at an alarming rate. If they disappear completely, the effects on our planet will be devastating.

The Amazon, which stretches over parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela and 60% of Brazil, is losing its battle against deforestation for decades, says writer Lila Nargie in a report published by the magazine Reader's Digest.

Before the 1970s, Brazil's rainforest alone stretched over more than 1.54 million square miles. According to Greenpeace, the area of ​​these forests has been steadily shrinking ever since and has been gradually destroyed by illegal logging, soybean farms and livestock.

In 2018, Brazil's share of the rainforest was 1.274 million square meters, but with a new government hostile to the environment, environmental observers expect this figure to decline rapidly.

The writer said that the Amazon contains a huge proportion of plants and animals up to 10% of all types of plants and animals on our planet. This rainforest stores 100 billion metric tons of carbon. According to WWF, these forests filter carbon dioxide from the air we breathe and control our climate through evaporation.

Rainfall faltered
According to a study published in 2012 in the journal Nature, the Amazon was responsible for bringing rain to the vicinity. According to the magazine "Scientific American" that deforestation can cause a decline in rainfall in large areas "even if this led to increased rainfall in the area that was subject to deforestation."

Deforestation also reduces rainfall in areas that do not include forests in southern Brazil, which are mainly agricultural areas, as well as Paraguay and Uruguay.

Increased drought
When less rain falls, the amount of potable water will decline. The recent drought in São Paulo is believed to have been exacerbated by deforestation in the Amazon region.

According to the National Geographic magazine, the lack of rainfall means that there is not enough water for agriculture, because "rainfall in the Amazon also helps provide water" for soy farmers and cattle farmers who are deforesting.

In fact, the drought will worsen as more trees are removed, threatening food supplies and drinking water.

More greenhouse gases
According to the National Geographic magazine, logging in the Amazon would trigger "enormous amounts of greenhouse gases that are warming the planet."

As tropical forest researcher Adrian Escoville Mulbert told the journal, "If we manipulate the Amazon forests, carbon dioxide emissions will increase dramatically and all will suffer from low air quality and global warming."

More flooding
The Amazon region is experiencing a 25% decrease in rainfall in some areas, and when it rains it causes massive flooding. Long-term droughts will increase if the rainforests disappear.

Loss of biodiversity
The Amazon has an amazing number of plant species, animals, insects, fungi and a rich array of organisms on earth. In 2012, the British Guardian newspaper sounded the alarm about endangered species, noting that many of them were facing slow death, with their reproduction rates falling and competition for food becoming more intense. It also destroys the Amazon and destroys all forms of biodiversity.

Loss of medical benefits
"Cancer treatment may be in the Amazon," Mulbert told National Geographic magazine. According to the Rain Forest Trust website, 90% of human diseases can be treated with a prescription derived from natural elements such as snake venom, mildew, bryoncle shrub, some of which are found in the Amazon.

Fires for longer periods
The writer pointed out that the loss of Amazon trees led to a higher frequency of fires than ever before, which is lasting longer than before. Moreover, these fires release more carbon into the atmosphere, causing the planet to warm.

Poverty will sweep
The Amazon forests are not only home to many species of plants and animals, but also to humans, many of whom rely on the rainforest for their livelihoods. For her part, the Guardian noted that all rainforests in the world provide food, energy, income and medicinal plants to about 300 million people.

As the area of ​​these forests shrinks, people who depend on them will become poor. In the absence of forests, people will have to migrate to cities or move to richer countries in search of work.