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Amazon rain forest nears dangerous tipping point warns environmental prize winner

Mon 31 Oct 2022    
EcoBalance
| 2 min read

Frankfurt: Biologist Christof Schenck, who was awarded the prestigious German Environmental Award, called for the worldwide protection of forest areas in order to stop climate change and species loss.

The situation is critical, especially in the large rainforests like in the Amazon region, warned the managing director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society.

“We are very, very highly concerned,” he said.

Schenck, along with two engineers, received the award in a ceremony attended by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

In an interview, he warned of “a dangerous tipping point in the destruction of the rainforests.”

When trees are cut down, they no longer contribute to precipitation through evaporation from leaves.

“When there is forest clearing, the water runs off and is no longer available for evaporative precipitation. Therein lies a danger for the entire system: If precipitation falls below a certain limit, the forest dies even without saws and fires.”

“Already we are incredibly close to that level,” he said.

When it comes to biodiversity loss, “with the destruction of the species-rich rainforests, we are in a sense blindly erasing a hard drive,” Schenck said. Biologist Forest Protection Climate Change

The Amazon rainforest stores considerable amounts of carbon and plays a key role in the world’s climate and biodiversity. Biologist Forest Protection Climate Change

In addition to Schenk, Friedrich Mewis and Dirk Lehmann from Hamburg were honoured and awarded US$498,000 (AED1m) for developing a more environmentally friendly ship propulsion system.

About the German Federal Environmental Foundation

The DBU funds innovative, exemplary and solution-oriented projects for the protection of the environment, with special consideration for small and medium-sized enterprises. The funding activities focus on environmental technology and research, nature conservation, environmental communication and the protection of cultural assets.

The foundation was established in 1990 and began its work in 1991. As of June 2022, it has supported more than 10,600 projects with a funding volume of around 1.96 billion euros. The foundation’s current capital is 2.39 billion euros.

Funded projects should achieve sustainable effects in practice, give impulses and lead to a “multiplier effect”. It is the objective of the DBU to contribute to the solution of current environmental problems, in particular, which result from unsustainable business practices and lifestyles. The DBU sees the crucial challenges primarily in the areas of climate change, biodiversity loss, unsustainable use of natural resources, and harmful emissions. The funding topics are linked both to current scientific findings on the Planetary Boundaries and to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.


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