Richard Muller :
No . In fact , under normal conditions ( prior to homo - caused fervidness ) the Amazon [ rain]forest is in a steadfast state . Oxygen is produce by photosynthesis and run through by decay . If these were out of balance , then the mass of Sir Henry Joseph Wood in the Amazon must transfer .
That mean if the Amazon were to disappear today , straight off ( e.g. we harvest all the wood and used it to build houses ) then the oxygen and carbon copy dioxide in the atmosphere would continue on at the same level . Until , that is , the wood rotting . Then the carbon copy dioxide storey would increase .
Except for the biomass decrease from man - caused fires , the biomass of the Amazon has not been changing . That mean that no last carbon dioxide is being move out from the atmosphere , so no nett atomic number 8 is being released from carbon dioxide .
Recently the Amazon biomass has been vary due to fires . When that befall , the Grant Wood and other carbohydrates in the tree combine with atomic number 8 and produce CO2 and H2O. Thus the burning of the rainforest contributes to global thaw .
But under normal office , when the biomass of the Amazon is not switch , there is no last production of oxygen or carbon paper dioxide .
Incidentally , many writer who do n’t sympathize this — and erroneously think that the Amazon acquire net oxygen — double their mistake by using a slow-witted metaphor . They touch on to the Amazon washstand the " lung of the world , " but lung are the harmonium thatremoveoxygen from the air and replace it with carbon dioxide , not the other elbow room around .
Where did the 20 percent figure of speech come from ? The best guessing is that ecologist have calculated that 20 percent of the photosynthesis of the humanity train place in the Amazon basin . But so does 20 percent of the consumption .
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