This feels like a simple strawman. The problem is called global warming, not global deoxygenation.
The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
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Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#32It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
If average temps go up 5°C (the current fear is that 2°C is the deadline, and at 3°C we're experiencing CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE including major loss of breadbasket regions, mass famine leading to mass revolt (think Arab Spring x 100)) then we are long, long past the current idea of modern civilization, billions of humans etc. At 5°C I bet 75% of world population has died to either lack of resources or wars over scarce resources.
https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-3/
I'd link more to IPCC but their website appears down, so sorry.
I will say that the 5 degree scenario is called the "RCP 8.5" and is basically the worst disaster scenario published here https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-011-0149-y
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ha, nice one! So if the Amazon is like lungs in this sense, where is it bringing the oxygen in from?
Released as waste via photosynthesis when it breaks apart CO2 in order to use the carbon to build plant matter?
If I recall my bio class right, the oxygen in the CO2 goes into the production of carbohydrates. The oxygen released as waste comes from split water molecules (photosynthesis requires both CO2 and H20.)
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#34Some are motivated to hyperbolize about the wildfires in Brazil in order to craft a narrative that Bolsonaro is ushering in the apocalypse. There’s wildfires in Bolivia but no one is blaming socialism (Evo Morales).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/02/bolivia-evo-mo...
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#35It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
> This type of articles is the last thing we need right now We always need the truth. If your agenda can't handle the truth, it's maybe not that great to begin with.
The problem seems to be that there's quite a bit of nuance in the article, but most people won't remember that if they even manage to read through it. They might however remember and pass on the clickbaity headline as it conveniently fits their climate change denial agenda.
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#36It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
>it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad
Does it? I read the article to be saying "you should be much much more concerned with the burning of fossil fuels than a forest." I read the article to be an attack on sensational journalism distracting people from the crux of the discussion. Its further point is that being concerned about oxygen and not temperatures rising is a logical error.
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#37It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
> This type of articles is the last thing we need right now We always need the truth. If your agenda can't handle the truth, it's maybe not that great to begin with.
Not the parent, but one reading of that comment is that the concern is not that the truth shouldn't be shared. I think being truthful is important, but the spin of the article minimizes the impact of climate change.
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#38It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
> having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton
See... but this is the kind of thing that leads to this kind of both-sides-ist article in the first place. In fact there are innumerable species of phytoplankton and other primary photosynthesizers, lots of which would be very happy to migrate toward the poles as the oceans warm. The planet may be warming rapidly, but it's been warmer in the geologic past and the microbial ecosystems did just fine.
Obviously bigger organisms are going to be terribly disrupted (and for bigger fauna the beginning of a mass extinction already seems to be under way). This is, y'know, outrageously bad.
But predictions of the end of life on earth are just feeding the right wing meme that liberals are irrational and opening the door for journalists to push this kind of "It's not so bad"[1] article as "balance". We need to be serious with our criticism. Urgency doesn't require sensationalism.
[1] To be fair, not having read the complete thing yet: the text of the article seems really quite good. It's not whitewashing anything I can see. But the theme and headline are still a variation on "environmentalists are idiots".
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#39It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
> having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually)
The global average temperature has been higher than that in the past, and there was plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Re: The Amazon Is Not the Earth’s Lungs
#40It might be that burning down every living tree would not make a dent in the oxygen supply, but having the earth temperature go up 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, and that would end the oxygen supply (eventually). This type of articles is the last thing we need right now, it all piles up on the narrative that the consequences of climate change are really not that bad and there is no real urgency in doing any…
> This type of articles is the last thing we need right now We always need the truth. If your agenda can't handle the truth, it's maybe not that great to begin with.
It might make you feel good to write that, but there are much bigger lies being told. For example, tons of people believe that CO2 released by human activity does not cause global warming, and tons of people are promoting that idea. Arguing over just how much photosynthesis the Amazon is responsible for seems like a stupid article in light of that. Perhaps we can be selective over what we argue about and what we pay attention to. On the net, the claim "the Amazon is the Earth's lungs" being true or not is not really meaningful. We still shouldn't burn it down, and climate change is still bad and getting worse. Creating debate over trivialities is usually the aim of these types of pieces, and it's best not to allow ourselves to be manipulated so easily.