More than a third of the already badly degraded Amazonian forest

A unique ecosystem shared between nine countries, the Amazon alone is home, on just 0.5% of the Earth's surface, to more than 10% of all known plant and vertebrate species.

An essential element of the climate system, often referred to as the planet's "lung", it alone provides 16% of its photosynthetic production, thus regulating the global carbon and water cycles.

This makes all the more worrying the extent of the damage inflicted by man in this region, of which two articles published Friday in the journal

draw up a frightening assessment.

These changes, which affect Amazonian ecosystems over millions of square kilometres,

write their authors who relied on the report of the " Scientific Panel for the Amazon” (involving 240 scientists from 20 countries).

This article is for subscribers only.

You have 79% left to discover.

Pushing back the limits of science is also freedom.

Keep reading your article for €0.99 for the first month

I ENJOY IT

Already subscribed?

Login