The destruction
of the Amazon will
take us, little by little,
into a vicious cycle.
Destruction of the Amazon
is the main source of
greenhouse gases here.
It contributes
to global warming
here in Brazil.
Global warming
transforms the forest
into a drier environment,
which is then
more vulnerable
to fire and destruction.
So, little by little,
this destruction becomes
intensified and accelerates.
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Involved viewers,
welcome to today’s
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
This week our focus is
the fast disappearing
Amazon rainforest,
which is known as
the “lungs of the Earth.”
It is a jewel of nature
that is absolutely vital
to maintaining
global climate stability.
At 7.5-million
square kilometers in size,
the Amazon region
encompasses the world's
largest rainforest
and river basin.
This vast area is located
just below the equator
and spans eight countries
including Brazil, Peru,
Ecuador, Colombia,
Venezuela, Guyana,
Surinam, and Bolivia
as well as French Guiana,
an overseas department
of France.
The largest part of
the rainforest, 60%,
lies in Brazil and
covers half the country,
followed by 13% in Peru.
The region’s name
“Amazon” or “Amazonia”
stems from
the Amazon River,
the world’s longest river
at approximately 7,000
kilometers in length.
The River’s source is
in the 5,000–meter-high
Peruvian Andes,
and from there
it winds eastward,
finally emptying into
the Atlantic Ocean.
The moist, broadleaf
Amazon rainforest
plays a pivotal role
in sustaining
our planet’s eco-sphere,
with its vegetation
providing over 20% of
the world’s oxygen and
absorbing 1.5-billion
metric tons of
carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere each year.
These are the highest
sources of absorption
of carbon dioxide.
These [are] the regulators
of the climate’s
temperature, rainfall,
winds and climate patterns.
And if the Amazon goes,
we will not have
our lungs, we will not
have our liver,
we will not have our heart.
We have 20% of
the fresh water available
on the surface of
the planet in the Amazon.
Since 1970 Brazil
has lost approximately
600,000 square kilometers
of forest, an area greater
than the size of Spain
and Portugal combined.
And for the last 10 years,
an average of 2.8-million
hectares or 0.48%
has vanished annually.
The main causes of this
massive deforestation
are clearing land
for livestock raising and
growing animal feed.
Scientists warn that if
the rainforest destruction
here and across globe
proceeds at the current
pace, all rainforests will
virtually disappear
by the end of the century.
Global warming,
increase in fires caused
by men and deforestation;
those three together
could lead
to a great expansion
of tropical savannahs
or cerrado in the Amazon.
Maybe from a third
to 50%
of the forest area
could become a type
of savannah or a prairie.
Conservation of
the Amazon is essential
to maintaining
Earth’s biodiversity.
The region is home to
one in 10 of all known
plant and animal species
on the planet.
Scientists estimate the
Amazon is endowed with
40,000 varieties of plants,
427 kinds of mammals,
1,294 species of birds,
378 types of reptiles, 427
species of amphibians,
and 3,000 kinds of fishes.
We have lost
30% of the biodiversity
on this planet
in just 40 years.
And in the tropics
we’re talking about 60%
declines in biodiversity.
That just cannot continue.
If it does we won’t
have anything to eat and
we won’t have anything
to fuel our economy.
There’re probably
twice as many species
in the tropics as there are
in temperate regions and
those are much more
poorly known.
So, in the Amazon
probably 19 out of 20 of
the species have not ever
been seen by a scientist
and have never been
given a name.
Due to
prolonged dry spells and
Andes glacial retreat,
severe droughts
are occurring more
frequently and intensely
in the Amazon.
After
the “once in a century”
drought in 2005, more
widespread droughts
devastated
over seven-million
square kilometers of
the region in 2010, and
one important Amazon
River tributary fell to its
lowest level in 40 years.
Scientists from
the Universities of Leeds
and Sheffield in the UK
and Brazil's Amazon
Environmental Research
Institute (IPAM) say that
the 2010 drought will,
in the short-term,
turn the Amazon into
a net emitter of
carbon dioxide
in contrast to its usual role
as a crucial carbon sink
for the planet.
The researchers estimate
that in the coming years
the millions of trees
dying in the Amazon
basin will release
five billion metric tons of
CO2 into the atmosphere
and three billion metric
tons of CO2 will not
be absorbed from the air
because the lessened
tree growth will reduce
the flora in the region.
To put into context
these eight billion metric
tons of carbon dioxide
the Amazon would
normally take in,
consider that in 2009
the US emitted 5.4 billion
metric tons of CO2 from
burning fossil fuels alone.
The majority of
global warming scenarios
show, obviously,
higher temperatures
in the Amazon,
and some of the scenarios
show a trend towards
a drier climate, with
less rain in the Amazon.
Climate changes or
changes in the patterns
of moisture circulation
of the Amazon
affect the south of Brazil.
Most of the droughts
that we have recorded in
the southern part of Brazil
in the last years
are associated
with a lack of moisture
coming from the Amazon.
That is clear, too.
Black Carbon, or soot,
a powerful greenhouse
agent that accelerates
the melting of
the world’s ice sheets
and glaciers, arises from
the incomplete
combustion of fossil fuels
and the clearing
of forests with fire.
Its global warming
potential over
a 20-year period has been
calculated at up to 4,700
times the heat-trapping
effect of carbon dioxide.
I would like to point out
the impact of
biomass burning and the
transport into the south.
It is in the middle of
the Amazon that we have
biomass burning.
It’s happening, in fact,
in the Brazilian savannah,
and in the frontier
between the savannah
and the Amazon forest.
And it’s really related to
the expansion of
cash crops
and cattle farms.
How can this kind of
material be transported
to Antarctica?
It seems a long way.
By now we know
that cyclonic activity is
able to transport materials
in a short time,
in a week or so,
from the main areas of
biomass burning,
to the south and then
mainly to the northernmost
part of Antarctica,
that is
the Antarctic Peninsula.
West Antarctica is
the fastest warming place
on Earth.
The melting there
is happening
at an alarming rate and
they’re discovering much
to the surprise
of researchers
that the Black Carbon
is also there
in large quantities.
A 2009 study by the
University of Toronto,
Canada and the Canadian
Institute for Advanced
Research projects
a six to seven meter rise
in sea levels should the
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
collapse.
Such a devastating event
would mean
the submergence of
many coastal cities
in the Americas.
As of 2005, Brazil
had approximately
207-million cattle,
a population size
second only to India’s.
Greenpeace Brazil
estimated in 2009 that
the livestock industry
is responsible for
about 80% of
Amazon deforestation.
The livestock sector is
by far the single largest
anthropogenic user
of land.
Livestock production
accounts for 70%
of all agricultural land
and 30% of the world’s
surface land area.
And 70% of
previously forested land
in the Amazon is occupied
by cattle pastures,
and crops for animal feed
cover a large part
of the remainder.
I was following
the Brazilian economy
almost 15 to 20 years ago
and you would recall
that there was a period
in the 1980s when Brazil
had a huge foreign debt,
something like
US$120-billion dollars
at that point in time.
And one of the means
by which they decided
to liquidate that
and neutralize it was by
converting a large area
of forest land
into pasture land.
That’s when the
whole problem started,
but it has continued.
The landmark 2006
report “Livestock’s
Long Shadow” by
the Food and Agriculture
Organization of
the United Nations states
that livestock raising is
the world’s number-one
source of human-induced
methane, being
responsible for 37%.
Brazil
is a very small producer
of greenhouse gases.
So, Brazil accounts
for just one percent
of world emissions
if you exclude the Amazon.
If we include the Amazon,
Brazil drops down
in the list and becomes
the fourth world producer.
The emissions caused
by Amazon deforestation
are three times larger
than all the remaining
Brazilian emissions.
This situation is actually
the largest environmental
problem faced by Brazil
and it must be addressed,
not only because of
environmental problems
but also because there
are 20-million Brazilians
living in the Amazon
and they will not be able
to stay in that region
if things don’t change.
Supreme Master Ching Hai
has often discussed
the enormous importance
of the world’s rainforests
and how we can
effectively protect our
planet’s eco-systems
as in a October 2009
videoconference
in Germany.
Saving the world’s
tropical forests,
the lungs of the Earth,
is one of the very
important priorities.
Because when the
tropical rainforests are
destroyed, there are many
frightening side effects.
It’s not just
the permanent changes to
the world’s temperature,
rainfall, and
weather patterns which
the forests regulate.
It’s not just about
the millions of people
who might lose
their livelihoods that
depend on the forests.
The rainforests
themselves normally
are our protectors, but as
the climate gets warmer,
instead of absorbing CO2
to protect our planet’s
climate, they will be
emitting back CO2 as well.
They will be not helping us,
the rainforest,
if the climate gets warmer.
But instead,
they will be worsening
the global warming problem.
Stop the livestock
industry -- that would be
the most effective way
to halt global warming
and restore our planet.
It will save
our precious forests.
How do we shut down
the livestock industry?
The organic vegan diet
is the clear answer.
If the world embraces
a lifestyle free of
animal products,
the industry’s
destructive activities
will immediately end and
trees and animal lives
will be saved.
Such a noble change
by humanity will
produce a beneficial,
cooling effect by
significantly reducing our
production of methane
and other dangerous
greenhouse gases, thus
preserving our planet.
Benevolent viewers,
thank you for joining us
on today’s Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment
after Noteworthy News.
May we always be filled
with the Divine bliss
of Heaven.
Carlos Ritti Climate campaign coordinatorGreenpeace Brazil
Carlos Ritti (m):The destruction of the Amazon will take us, little by little, into a vicious cycle. Destruction of the Amazon is the main source of greenhouse gases here. It contributes to global warming here in Brazil.Global warming transforms the forest into a drier environment, which is then more vulnerable to fire and destruction. So, little by little, this destruction becomes intensified and accelerates.
HOST: Involved viewers, welcome to today’s Planet Earth: Our Loving Home. This week our focus is the fast disappearing Amazon rainforest, which is known as the “lungs of the Earth.” It is a jewel of nature that is absolutely vital to maintaining global climate stability.
At 7.5-million square kilometers in size, the Amazon region encompasses the world's largest rainforest and river basin. This vast area is located just below the equator and spans eight countries including Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, and Bolivia as well as French Guiana, an overseas department of France. The largest part of the rainforest, 60%, lies in Brazil and covers half the country, followed by 13% in Peru.
The region’s name “Amazon” or “Amazonia” stems from the Amazon River, the world’s longest river at approximately 7,000 kilometers in length. The River’s source is in the 5,000–meter-high Peruvian Andes, and from there it winds eastward, finally emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.
The moist, broadleaf Amazon rainforest plays a pivotal role in sustaining our planet’s eco-sphere, with its vegetation providing over 20% of the world’s oxygen and absorbing 1.5-billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.
Vandana Shiva, PhD (Vegetarian) Indian environmental advocate, physicist and author Founder of Navdanya
Dr. Shiva (f):These are the highest sources of absorption of carbon dioxide. These (are) the regulators of the climate’s temperature, rainfall, winds and climate patterns. And if the Amazon goes, we will not have our lungs, we will not have our liver, we will not have our heart.
Carlos Ritti Climate campaign coordinator Greenpeace Brazil
Carlos Ritti Greenpeace(m): We have 20% of the fresh water available on the surface of the planet in the Amazon.
HOST: Brazil has lost approximately 600,000 square kilometers of forest, an area greater than the size of Spain and Portugal combined. And for the last 10 years, an average of 2.8-million hectares or 0.48% has vanished annually. The main causes of this massive deforestation are clearing land for livestock raising and growing animal feed. Scientists warn that if the rainforest destruction here and across globe proceeds at the current pace, all rainforests will virtually disappear by the end of the century.
Carlos Nobre, PhD Director, Center for Earth System Science Brazil
Carlos Nobre (m): Global warming, increase in fires and deforestation; those three together could lead to a great expansion of tropical savannahs or cerrado in the Amazon. Maybe from a third to 50% of the forest area could become a type of savannah or a prairie.
HOST: Conservation of the Amazon is essential to maintaining Earth’s biodiversity. The region is home to one in 10 of all known plant and animal species on the planet. Scientists estimate the Amazon is endowed with 40,000 varieties of plants, 427 kinds of mammals, 1,294 species of birds, 378 types of reptiles, 427 species of amphibians, and 3,000 kinds of fishes.
Anthony Kleanthous Senior Policy Adviser on Sustainable Business and Economics
World Wildlife Fund UK
Anthony Kleanthous(m): We have lost 30% of the biodiversity on this planet in just 40 years. And in the tropics we’re talking about 60% declines in biodiversity. That just cannot continue. If it does we won’t have anything to eat and we won’t have anything to fuel our economy.
Peter Raven, PhD Esteemed botanist and Professor of Biology, Washington University, USA
Raven (m): There’re probably twice as many species in the tropics as there are in temperate regions and those are much more poorly known. So, in the Amazon probably 19 out of 20 of the species have not ever been seen by a scientist and have never been given a name.
HOST: Due to prolonged dry spells and Andes glacial retreat, severe droughts are occurring more frequently and intensely in the Amazon. After the “once in a century” drought in 2005, more widespread droughts devastated over seven-million square kilometers of the region in 2010, and one important Amazon River tributary fell to its lowest level in 40 years.
Scientists from the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield in the UK and Brazil's Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) say that the 2010 drought will, in the short-term, turn the Amazon into a net emitter of carbon dioxide in contrast to its usual role as a crucial carbon sink for the planet.
The researchers estimate that in the coming years the millions of trees dying in the Amazon basin will release five billion metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and three billion metric tons of CO2 will not be absorbed from the air because the lessened tree growth will reduce the flora in the region. To put into context these eight billion metric tons of carbon dioxide the Amazon would normally take in, consider that in 2009 the US emitted 5.4 billion metric tons of CO2 from burning fossil fuels alone.
Carlos Nobre (m):The majority of global warming scenarios show, obviously, higher temperatures in the Amazon and some of the scenarios show a trend towards a drier climate, with less rain in the Amazon.
Francisco Aquino Geographer, Brazil
Francisco Aquino (m): Climate changes or changes in the patterns of moisture circulation of the Amazon affect the south of Brazil. Most of the droughts that we have recorded in the southern part of Brazil in the last years are associated with a lack of moisture coming from the Amazon. That is clear, too.
HOST: Black Carbon, or soot, a powerful greenhouse agent that accelerates the melting of the world’s ice sheets and glaciers, arises from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests with fire. Its global warming potential over a 20-year period has been calculated at up to 4,700 times the heat-trapping effect of carbon dioxide.
Professor Jefferson Simões Director, Brazilian National Institute for Cryospheric Sciences Brazil
Simoes (m): I would like to point out the impact of biomass burning and the transport into the south. It is in the middle of the Amazon that we have biomass burning. It’s happening, in fact, in the Brazilian savannah, and in the frontier between the savannah and the Amazon forest. And it’s really related to the expansion of cash crops and cattle farms.
How can this kind of material be transported to the Antarctic? It seems a long way. By now, we know that cyclonic activity is able to transport materials in a short time, in a week or so, from the main areas of biomass burning to the south and then mainly to the northernmost part of Antarctica, that is the Antarctic Peninsula.
Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop (Vegan) Senior Scientist, World Preservation Foundation
Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop: West Antarctica is the fastest warming place on Earth. The melting there is happening at an alarming rate and they’re discovering much to the surprise of researchers that the Black Carbon is also there in large quantities.
HOST: A 2009 study by the University of Toronto, Canada and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research projects a six to seven meter rise in sea levels should the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse. Such a devastating event would mean the submergence of many coastal cities in the Americas.
HOST: As of 2005, Brazil had approximately 207-million cattle, a population size second only to India’s. Greenpeace Brazil estimated in 2009 that the livestock industry is responsible for about 80% of Amazon deforestation.
Rajendra Pachauri, PhD (Vegetarian) Chairman, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Rajendra Pachauri(m): The livestock sector is by far the single largest anthropogenic user of land. Livestock production accounts for 70% of all agricultural land and 30% of the world’s surface land area. And 70% of previously forested land in the Amazon is occupied by cattle pastures, and crops for animal feed cover a large part of the remainder. I was following the Brazilian economy almost 15 to 20 years ago and you would recall that there was a period in the
1980s when Brazil had a huge foreign debt, something like US$120-billion dollars at that point in time. And one of the means by which they decided to liquidate that and neutralize it was by converting a large area of forest land into pasture land. That’s when the whole problem started, but it has continued.
HOST: The landmark 2006 report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states that livestock raising is the world’s number-one source of human-induced methane, being responsible for 37%.
José Goldemberg Energy specialist, Brazil
José Goldenberg (m): Brazil is a very small producer of greenhouse gases. So, Brazil accounts for just one percent of world emissions if youexclude the Amazon. If we include the Amazon, Brazil drops down in the list and becomes the fourth world producer. The emissions caused by Amazon deforestation are three times larger than all the remaining Brazilian emissions. This situation is actually the largest environmental problem faced by Brazil and it must be addressed, not only because of environmental problems but also because there are 20-million Brazilians living in the Amazon and they will not be able to stay in that region if things don’t change.
HOST: Supreme Master Ching Hai has often discussed the enormous importance of the world’s rainforests and how we can effectively protect our planet’s eco-systems as in a October 2009 videoconference in Germany.
Videoconference with Supreme Master Ching Hai “Be Vegan, Go Green, Protect God’s Creations in Nature” Frankfurt, Germany – October 18, 2009
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Saving the world’s tropical forests, the lungs of the Earth, is one of the very important priorities. Because when the tropical rainforests are destroyed, there are many frightening side effects. It’s not just the permanent changes to the world’s temperature, rainfall, and weather patterns which the forests regulate.
It’s not just about the millions of people who might lose their livelihoods that depend on the forests. The rainforests themselves normally are our protectors, but as the climate gets warmer, instead of absorbing CO2 to protect our planet’s climate, they will be emitting back CO2 as well. They will be not helping us, the rainforest, if the climate gets warmer. But instead, they will be worsening the global warming problem.
Stop the livestock industry that would be the most effective way to halt global warming and restore our planet. It will save our precious forests.
HOST: How do we shut down the livestock industry? The organic vegan diet is the clear answer. If the world embraces a lifestyle free of animal products, the industry’s destructive activities will immediately end and trees and animal lives will be saved. Such a noble change by humanity will produce a beneficial, cooling effect by significantly reducing our production of methane and other dangerous greenhouse gases, thus preserving our planet.
