#environmentalemergency — Public Fediverse posts

Humanity's Chance to Reverse #AmazonRainforest's Slide Toward #TippingPoint Is 'Shrinking'

The world's largest #rainforest showed "ominous indicators," including #wildfires and #ExtremeDrought, in 2024.

The Amazon, sometimes called the '#LungsOfThePlanet,' this year showed signs of further inching toward a much-feared tipping point, threatening the very existence of the world's largest rainforest.

"Rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaged large parts of the Amazon in 2024. The fires and dry conditions were fueled by deforestation and the El Niño weather pattern, and also made worse by climate change, according to the World Economic Forum. 'The number of fires reached its highest level in 14 years this September,' the group reported in October.

"#Drought has also impacted the #AmazonRiver, causing one of the river's main tributaries to drop to its lowest level ever recorded, according to October reporting from The Associated Press. The drop in the river has negatively impacted local economies and #FoodSupplies.

"Andrew Miller, advocacy director at #AmazonWatch, told the AP last week that the fires and droughts experienced across the Amazon in 2024 'could be ominous indicators that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point.'

"'Humanity's window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but still open,' he said.

"The Amazon plays a vital role in keeping the planet healthy. 150-200 billion tons of carbon are stored in the Amazon, and it also carries 20% of the earth's fresh water to sea.

"According to the World Economic Forum, if the Amazon tipping point is reached, 'it will release billions of tonnes of #CO2 into the atmosphere through fires and plants dying off. This would further exacerbate climate change and make the 1.5°C goal impossible to achieve. It would also alter weather patterns, which would impact agricultural productivity and global food supplies.'

"A paper published in the journal Nature in February indicates that up to half of the rainforest could hit a tipping point by the middle of the century. 'We estimate that by 2050, 10% to 47% of Amazonian forests will be exposed to compounding disturbances that may trigger unexpected ecosystem transitions and potentially exacerbate regional #ClimateChange,' explained the researchers behind the paper.

"However, it wasn't all bad news out of the Amazon in 2024. According to the AP, the amount of #deforestation in #Brazil and #Colombia declined in this year. In Brazil, which houses the largest chunk of the Amazon, forest loss dropped 30.6% compared to the year prior, bringing it to the lowest level of destruction in nearly a decade.

"The improvement is an about-face from a couple of years ago, when the country registered 15-year high of deforestation during the leadership of former #FarRight President #JairBolsonaro. Brazil is now led by the left-wing President Luiz Inácio #Lula da Silva, who—despite presiding over this drop in deforestation—has also come under scrutiny, as AP noted, by #environmentalists for backing projects that they argue could harm the environment."

Source:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/amazon-rainforest-tipping-point-2024

#ClimateCatastrophe #EnvironmentalEmergency #SouthAmerica #SaveTheForests

'Chaos': #Peru Declares #EnvironmentalEmergency Over #OilSpill

"So far, we have not had any response from the oil company," said one fisherman whose livelihood has been threatened by the accident.

Julia Conley
Dec 27, 2024

"At least seven beaches and the safety of local wildlife have been impacted by an oil spill in northern Peru, said the South American country's Environmental Assessment and Oversight Agency on Thursday as the government declared an environmental emergency.

"The environmental watchdog, known as #OEFA locally, said in a preliminary report that about 10,000 square meters of surface seawater have been contaminated by the crude oil, which spilled from a vessel at a terminal of the #TalaraRefinery.

"Petroperu, the state-owned oil company, was preparing to load the oil onto a tanker when the spill was detected at #LasCapullanas beach.

"The company has not disclosed exactly how much oil spilled, but OEFA said it has extended over an area of 116-566 acres. Petroperu has also not stated the cause of the accident."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/petroperu
#BigOilAndGas #Petroperu #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NoDAPL #RenewablesNow #EnvironmentalPollution #EnvironmentalDisaster