Not Everything is as Bad as it Seems Part 1
There are a lot of things that are less than ideal in the world. Luckily, not everything is as bad as it is made out to be by doom and gloom clickbait articles. Mainstream news and culture have perpetuated a lot of myths, and we would like to dispel one of those today.
We recently ran an article about the surprisingly sharp drop in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. This is great news in our opinion, but not because of the misconception that many people push, that the Amazon produces 20% of the oxygen in the world and that if it is cut down we will lose all of that air.
The truth is that while the Amazon does produce a lot of oxygen, it is so densely packed and teeming with life that it uses up all that it creates. While it is impossible to know exactly, it is calculated that its net oxygen output is around 0%.
The Amazon does do some helpful things. The rainforest helps recycle the water in the region, extending the wet season ensuring that plants in the area can grow without drying out and dying during the dry season.
The Amazon (and all forests) also helps improve air quality. Trees and plants feed on carbon dioxide to grow. If you have trees near to where carbon dioxide is being produced, the trees can absorb the gas and use it as fuel. The Amazon is able to pull in and absorb around 1.7 billion tons of CO2 per year, which is nearly 5% of the world’s annual emissions.
Hopefully you can come out of this article with a few positives. We will not all suffocate to death because of Amazon deforestation. We also have seen a large drop in deforestation. Armed with this knowledge, we all have some fun facts to repeat at our next social event.