CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Northwestern University professor said claims that 20 percent of the world’s oxygen supply is at risk as fires burn in the Amazon Rain Forest are wrong.
"The oxygen that we have in our atmosphere is a result of Earth processes that have happened over billions of years and so it is very difficult to trace much of the oxygen in our atmosphere to contemporary ecosystems like rain forests," said Neal Blair, a professor of biogeochemistry at Northwestern.
But Blair said there are several other reasons to be concerned about the fires in the Amazon Rain Forest. He said the fires release carbon dioxide gasses stored by the trees, which he said contributes to global warming.
“The consumption of oxygen when we burn forests, for instance, is not going to hurt us,” Blair told the Tribune. “On the other hand, we don’t actually have a lot of CO2 in the atmosphere compared to oxygen. So if you add CO2 to the atmosphere, then you can make a bigger difference.”
Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared radiation, the heat lost from the surface of the Earth, Blair said. That leads to what’s known as the greenhouse effect, so elevated carbon dioxide levels from the burning of the Amazon could add to the warming of the Earth’s climate.
“We’re adding more CO2,” Blair said. “So, we’re piling on the blankets, and at some point, it gets too warm. That’s what we’re facing.”
He also said the fires are harming the rain forest’s biodiversity and indigenous peoples.
Blair said the fires are due in part to farmers clearing trees to create pastures for cattle to feed the world’s appetite for beef.