The Amazon, an almost lost paradise

From the air, the Amazon it appears as a boundless dark green expanse, a place teeming with wildlife crossed by blue rivers.

Unlimited until it stops. On the fringes of the largest rainforest in the world, vast brown patches emerge like scars, the result of deforestation and fires set to make way for roads, gold mines, crops and especially cattle farms.

It is what is known as the “deforestation arc”, which is rapidly advancing through South America and represents a cataclysm for the planet.

Until recently, thanks to its lush vegetation and the miracle of photosynthesis, the Amazon basin absorbed massive amounts of the CO2 emissions man-made, delaying the nightmare of climate change.

But several studies indicate that the tropical forest is advancing towards a “tipping point”, in which it will become savanna with the massive death of its 390,000 million trees.

The destruction accelerates, especially since the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019 in Brazil, which is home to 60% of the Amazon, with plans to open protected lands to agribusiness and mining.

Among its first victims is the web of interdependent species, numbering more than three million, including the majestic harpy eagle and the fascinating jaguar.

The violent incursions of illegal miners into indigenous lands are also cruel to the native peoples, guarantors of the jungle thanks to their traditional knowledge and their respect for nature.

But the catastrophe does not end here. If the Amazon reaches the point of no return, instead of helping to slow global warming, it will accelerate it, expelling the equivalent of a decade of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

“We are killing the Amazon,” warns Brazilian atmospheric chemist Luciana Gatti.

“As negative as the forecasts (on climate change) are, in fact, they are optimistic.” “We will reach that horrible scenario much earlier” than anticipated, says Gatti.

On the one hand, this is a tale of villains: of violent men in cowboy hats exploiting a lawless land, of political corruption, massive inequalities, and an appetite for money made from the earth’s riches.

But it also concerns all of humanity, questioning everything from our relationship with nature to our consumer frenzy.

After all, the gold, timber, soybeans, and meat that destroy the rainforest is a question of supply and demand.

The products that are killing the Amazon are found in homes around the world.