Climate Change
Vegetation—especially trees—removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. When forests are cleared, the rate at which carbon is naturally removed drops significantly. In addition, when vegetation is burned or decomposes, the carbon that was previously stored in the biomass is released back into the atmosphere. This means that deforestation directly contributes to climate change.
In fact, the deforestation of the Amazon has already released an estimated 104.9 million metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere (Coe et al., Woodwell Climate Research Center).
But the relationship doesn't stop there. Climate change, in turn, worsens the impacts of deforestation, especially by accelerating the loss of evapotranspiration—the process by which trees and plants release water vapor into the atmosphere. Evapotranspiration plays a vital role in regulating the Amazon’s rainfall patterns and local climate. As forest cover declines, evapotranspiration drops, leading to drier conditions, which further stress vegetation and increase the likelihood of fires (McKee, 2022).
This creates a feedback loop:
Deforestation contributes to climate change → climate change reduces evapotranspiration → reduced evapotranspiration leads to more vegetation loss → which leads to more climate change.
While evapotranspiration loss is expected to hit the southern Amazon the hardest, the western Amazon faces its own unique threat. Due to higher elevations, this region tends to be cooler, and cooler ecosystems are especially vulnerable to warming temperatures. As climate change progresses, species in these zones are forced to move uphill to stay within their thermal comfort zones—until they literally run out of mountain (Amazon Aid, 2022).
This is a major concern for high-elevation species such as:
The endangered Andean tapir (Tapirus pinchaque)
The vulnerable spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)
Without urgent action, these and other species could face extinction as their habitats disappear above the treeline.
References:
Coe, Michal T. Rattis, Ludmila. Machado, Manoela. Macedo, Marcia N. Fiske, Gregery J. Amazon deforestation and fire outlook Woodwell Climate Research Center
https://www.woodwellclimate.org/project/amazon-fire-outlook/
McKee, Jenny. (March 8, 2022) The Amazon Could Soon Transition to a Dry, Savanna-like Ecosystem A new study shows that more than 75 percent of the rainforest is losing its ability to recover from droughts and fires—a finding with huge consequences for humans and wildlife alike. Audubon
https://www.audubon.org/news/the-amazon-could-soon-transition-dry-savanna-ecosystem
Climate Change Threatens Andean Cloud Forests Amazon Aid
https://amazonaid.org/climate-change-threatens-andean-cloud-forests/