Deforestation in the Amazon causes climate disruption in Northern Europe, pollution in Central America, and could wipe out 25% of all marine life in the Atlantic Ocean.
Deforestation in the Amazon causes nutrients to run off into the Atlantic Ocean. This initiates the growth of Sargassum, a pelagic seaweed. The Sargassum then crosses the South Atlantic to Africa and runs up the coast of Africa, picking up more nutrients from pollution and deforestation from the Congo and Gambia Rivers. Sargassum is now doubling in mass every 10 days, and by the time it reaches North Africa, there will be around 30 million metric tonnes.
The Sargassum takes a left turn at Cape Verde and starts to head back across the Atlantic Ocean, heading for the Caribbean and Central America. The weed is still using up nutrients such as phosphate and nitrate. Sargassum uses up all the nutrients and starves the natural phytoplankton. Without phytoplankton, you have no zooplankton, fish, or whales. When we sailed across the Atlantic Ocean last year to take measurements of pollution and plankton, the concentration of plankton was down by over 90%. The Sargassum bloom now stretches for 5000 km across the whole of the Atlantic Ocean. When Sargassum runs out of phosphate, it starts absorbing arsenic. When the weed is dumped on the shores of the Caribbean, mangroves, and coral reefs, it decomposes to release organic matter, sulfuric acid, and arsenic. 25% of all marine life in the oceans depend on coral and mangroves.
Phytoplankton produce lipids (oil) that form the SML surface microlayer skin in the ocean. This layer regulates water evaporation. Without an SML, there is higher atmospheric water vapour pressure, which accounts for 70% of all greenhouse gases. With no SML, there are fewer clouds and less rain. This is now happening in Central America—rainforests with no rain.
The higher temperatures and climate disruption increase water temperatures in the Gulf Stream, which transfer warmer water to the northern latitudes. It may also impact the position of the Jet Stream. The North Atlantic and around the United Kingdom the Seas are 6 °C warmer, there are going to be mass fish and marine life mortalities, toxic algae blooms and whales washing up on beaches. El Nino is amplifying the issues.
Deforestation and pollution from Brazil result in a loss of Marine life in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea and changes the weather patterns in Central and North America and Europe. The destruction of coral and mangroves reduces nature’s ability to sequester carbon.
This demonstrates that everything is connected; climate change will not be solved by carbon mitigation without regenerating nature on land and in the world’s Oceans. Climate disruption will not be solved unless the world works together to solve this wicked problem.
The GOES Report https://lnkd.in/ev6_2cXN