You may have seen the stories about the fires in the Amazon. One of the most common claims being made about Amazon is “responsible for 20% of the world’s oxygen.” So presumably what a horrible thing for the rest of the world and why we should all be freaking out.
Here’s Kamala making it a political attack:
Brazil's President Bolsonaro must answer for this devastation. The Amazon creates over 20% of the world's oxygen and is home to one million Indigenous people.
Any destruction affects us all. pic.twitter.com/rbdtuHMXJ9
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 24, 2019
More California progressives:
The Amazon forest provides 20 percent of the world’s oxygen and there have been 70,000 wildfires this year alone.
These fires set by loggers could speed up climate change through a feedback loop that emits billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. https://t.co/uEaAuzhtMT
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) August 24, 2019
The #AmazonRainforest provides 20% of the world’s clean air and oxygen and it has been burning for weeks. This should sound the alarm for all of us. We can’t let our lungs burn before our eyes. The damage will be irreparable. pic.twitter.com/JNYvEgl3r8
— Nanette D. Barragán (@RepBarragan) August 23, 2019
The Amazon produces 20% of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. If we fail to combat climate change now, soon we won’t have clean air to breathe. We must take #ClimateActionNow. This is not a drill or a hoax. https://t.co/0YtRf1TgY5
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) August 23, 2019
Of course, the media pushing it too, including a political attack:
The Amazon rainforest supplies about 20 percent of the world's oxygen. Under a Brazilian president nicknamed Captain Chainsaw, this massive canopy is burning up. "If you are fan of breathing, this affects you." https://t.co/wtcaf8qVfe @CityLab #ClimateCrisis
— David Beard (@dabeard) August 22, 2019
The Amazon, which produces about 20% of earth's oxygen, is often referred to as "the planet's lungs."
An inferno in the world's largest rainforest, two-thirds of which is in Brazil, threatens the ecosystem there and also affects the entire globe. https://t.co/FM9gYyvHMt pic.twitter.com/oUouc8yY0a
— CNN (@CNN) August 23, 2019
The Amazon rainforest, which produces 20% of the world’s oxygen, is on fire. Here’s what it looks like, and ways you can help 🌲 https://t.co/JhYcUKLv8v pic.twitter.com/oO6UJ697S3
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) August 23, 2019
Except it isn’t true, not even close to being true, as Dr. Jonathan Foley, an actual global environmental scientist, and Michael Mann, a climate scientist, note.
Despite the widespread claim, the Amazon doesn’t produce 20% of the world’s oxygen.
It’s more like ~6%
— Dr. Jonathan Foley (@GlobalEcoGuy) August 23, 2019
And lets be generous and say the Amazon is about half the productivity of the planet’s tropical forests (it isn’t; it’s less), then we can say the Amazon produces no more than ~6% of the world’s oxygen. Probably less.
— Dr. Jonathan Foley (@GlobalEcoGuy) August 23, 2019
It’s biologically and physically impossible for the Amazon to produce 20% of the world’s oxygen.
Plus, those rainforests will be replaces with soybean fields and pastures that also do photosynthesis and produce oxygen at similar, or higher, rates.
This is not an issue.
— Dr. Jonathan Foley (@GlobalEcoGuy) August 23, 2019
The 20% figure IS too high. True number closer to 6% as per Jon Foley (@GlobalEcoGuy) and even this is misleading because oxygen levels wouldn't actually drop by 6% if we deforested the Amazon. See the longer thread on this w/ @GlobalEcoGuy, @climatedynamics, me & others… https://t.co/bz8eWPHDhC
— Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) August 23, 2019
Foley says he’s still concerned about the continuing deforestation, but not because of the oxygen claim.