WWF reports on climate-threatened Amazon

Climate change and deforestation could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 per cent of the Amazon by 2030, according to WWF’s new report.

‘The Amazon's Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire in the Greenhouse’, has been released at the UN climate change talks in Bali, revealing the dramatic consequences faced by climate change in the Amazon - for both the environment and people’s livelihoods in South America.

‘The Amazon is on a knife edge due to the dual threats of deforestation and climate change,’ said Beatrix Richards, head of forests at WWF-UK. From now to 2030, deforestation in the Amazon could release 55.5 to 96.9 billion tons of CO2. The upper end of this estimate this is the equivalent of more than two years of global greenhouse gas emissions.

‘The importance of the Amazon forest for the globe’s climate cannot be underplayed,’ says scientist Dan Nepstad, author of the report: ‘It’s not only essential for cooling the world’s temperature but also such a large source of freshwater that it may be enough to influence some of the great ocean currents, and on top of that it’s a massive store of carbon.’

At the UN climate change talks, reducing emissions from deforestation will be high up on the agenda. WWF is promoting solutions in the Amazon such as minimizing the negative impacts from cattle ranching and infrastructure projects, and rapidly expanding the existing network of protected areas.

For more information about WWF’s Amazon initiative visit here.