The Amazon Basin is fast approaching an irreversible tipping point. That should concern everyone, because what happens in the Amazon has planetary implications.
Spanning eight South American countries and French Guiana, the Amazon contains more than 60 percent of the world’s tropical forests, 20 percent of its fresh water and about 10 percent of biodiversity.
As a result of land speculation and insatiable global demand for meat, soy, gold, and other commodities, roughly 20 percent of the world’s largest tropical forest has already been razed. A further 5 percent rise in deforestation levels could trigger catastrophic dieback, essentially dooming the 2015 Paris