The Amazon's on fire!!!!!!!!

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This blog has been inspired by the postponement on a vote for a bill which would allow for the destruction and deforestation of this ecosystem. Much pressure has been pressed by the public, members of parliament and international companies. The world is now keeping an eye on this piece of legislation and hoping they place the world's well-being over short-term economical benefits.

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2608/new-study-shows-the-amazon-makes-its-own-rainy-season/

About 20% of the Amazon has already been destroyed for grazing of livestock, growing crops for the livestock  opening up Brazil to establish more urban centers away from the coast and obtaining resources ie palm oil. It is expected there will be an overall 27% removal of the rainforest within the next 10 years. The Amazon rainforest plays a vital role in the water cycle for the Amazon region and for the entire continent of South America. Hypothetically if the entire rainforest had been cleared it is likely this region would become an arid region, prone to fires and struggle to grow viable crops. The trees in this forest acts as a biotic pump which releases transpiration creating water vapor which will then cool and condense. This condensation reduces the air pressure that creates a vacuum where the evaporated water from the Atlantic ocean is pushed in the direction of the Amazon. As the vapor (clouds) drifts along the west of the continent it drops water along the continent and releases the remainder of the water droplets once it reaches the Andes mountain (relief rainfall). This relief rainfall is then collected and stored by the vegetation of the Andes with the rest entering rivers where they flow through the continent where most of the rivers flow back out to the east of South American coast where it begins this water cycle in the Atlantic ocean. A single oak tree transpires 40,000 gallons of water vapor per year so due to the intensity of the trees in the Amazon rainforest it is commonly compared as a flowing river in the sky. This rainforest creates it's own climate which will be eternally eliminated in the South American continent if the Amazon rainforest is completely cleared. 10-15% of all global atmospheric water is available due to forests. It's been predicted by Princeton University that there will be a decrease in precipitation in the Americas if deforestation continues. It's also predicted that the complete removal of the Amazon rainforest could lead to a decrease in precipitation at a magnitude of a 50% decline in rainfall as far up as the Sierra Nevada. The increase in fires created in the US and Canada seen in recent years is expected to be caused by the 20% of rain forest already destroyed.

https://www.americanforests.org/blog/no-trees-means-no-rain/

The Amazon rainforrest is also responsible for temperature regulation for the South American continent through the storage of a trillion tonnes of carbon with 31% of this carbon stored within the biomass of the trees (leaves) which would be released through an increase in deforestation. These forests also regulate the temperature within it's region as it creates clouds through transpiration.  These clouds (especially white clouds) reflects the sunlight wavelength which reduces the temperature and decreases the risk of desiccation of South American soils and vegetation. This decrease in rainfall and increase in temperature (evaporation) will likely lead to the inaccessibility of drinking water and establishment of unsuitable conditions for much of the vegetation (crops). It is likely there will be growth of pioneer species (fast growing, tolerant plants) with most unsuitable for crop production and a scarcity of vegetation to sustain the population in South America.

In conclusion, if deforestation continues the soil will lose it's fertility and so if grazing of livestock is desired receding of the rain forest will need to be done which will result in desertification turning this continent into a 3rd world region with insufficient levels of crops and drinking water. Tourism is also sure to reduce as a result and fires will become a more common occurrence which will constantly destroy any remnants of their economy in South America. Although, it may benefit Brazil to open up the Amazon rain forest to profit from urban centers and agriculture, the further destruction will create devastating effects to Brazil in the long term and likely to harm nations outside of South America. I believe it is likely that this currently thriving nation may become a third world nation struggling to find water, grow crops with malnourished livestock. Their tourism which accounts for such a high amount of their economy will crumble with the only people immigrating in likely to have aid due to the harsh conditions which will ensue. Please comment below on whether you agree or disagree with all criticisms more than welcome.   

The True Lungs of this Planet

Many may not know this but peatlands are one of the most important entity for the health of this planet and biodiversity. Forrest's are provided with the spotlight as major carbon converters. This is simply not the case as peatlands are capable of storing up to 30% of all the world's soil carbon despite covering just 3% of the earth's surface. To put into perspective, forests makes up 30% of the earth's surface and can store just half the amount that peatlands can. Peatlands also prevent many nations from flooding over as it can store up to 30 times it's dry weight in water and is associated with 70% of all of the United Kingdom's drinking water filteration (It's actually cheaper to restore an entire peatland compared to simply running the maintenance of a water treatment plant). Ireland makes up 17% (3rd highest cover in the world despite it's small size) of the world's peatland cover. All of these peatlands in Ireland that are protected under the Annexe habitats directive had been assessed as bad due to the constant draining, degradation etc. There is a significant correlation between  peatland's effectiveness of carbon sequestration and the degree of fragmentation of these peats. It is common for these degraded habitats to release methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses accounting for 10% of greenhouse gasses emitted annually.  In the midst of an environmental pandemic, which may spell out disaster for all species sharing this planet, we must look to these nations (Ireland, Finland and Canada) to look after their most prized asset for mankind.

https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/resources/commission-inquiry/work-commission-2011/impacts-burning-management-peatlands

How Peatlands store so much carbon?

Carbon is absorbed by peatlands through the living plants unique to this habitat. Sphagnum can store more carbon than any other plant genus. Sphagnum is known as an ecosystem engineer and thrives in waterlogged conditions. Raised bogs are made up of almost entirely of sphagnum which contain a phenolic compound embedded within it's cell wall which is the main constituent responsible for carbon storage. When these plants die and turn into peat the carbon is contained within the soil and doesn't emmit back into the environment due to the low degradation rates. This is due to a host of factors mainly including the waterlogged state of the soil, pH and oxygen availability. Wet soils typically exhibit low decomposition rates of organic compounds as it fills the spaces within the soil which restricts the level of oxygen available to the bacteria involved with degradation. These soils absorb significantly more carbon than they release back into the atmosphere in comparison to other soils, however, this also means that when an area of peatland is cut(which is very common in Ireland) it will release significantly more carbon constituents in comparison to deforestation. Once these soil's burnt it creates the most significant biochemical imbalancement man could ever perform as the rate at which the carbon is released (fast flux) is so much greater than the rate at which it's being  absorbed (peat formation is a slow flux process).  

Research Issues

There have been many studies performed on the better understanding the role these wetland habitats play in helping cease global warming, however, despite the already known importance of peatlands most of these studies have gone incomplete. Accomplished studies are rare mainly due to the complexity of these soil types. Other issues which restricts a sufficient examination is the distance of these habitats from settlements ie. Finland, Russia etc and so it is more difficult to transport their resources and to maintain repeated  surveys in testing the peatland's response.