Op-Ed: With climate change, we may witness sequoia forests convert to chaparral as the climate changes
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The recent release of a study on how the climate will be forever changed due to human-caused CO2 emissions has led many to speculate on how the world may forever change. This is because we have been told we may lose the Amazon rainforests as the result of global warming. In some of the headlines, this is described as “the end of the world” due to global warming. But, this is not the end. It is just the beginning of what may be the next chapter.
The Amazon and rainforests
With the recent IPCC report on climate change, there has been a lot of discussion about the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon rainforests store 60% of the worlds fresh surface fresh water and are also responsible for 30% of the worlds oxygen supply.
In the Amazon rain forests, there are over 40,000 species of plants, including 6,000 species of palm trees.
This is one of the most diverse plant communities on the planet. They span the globe and include over 600 varieties of palms, over 100 different kinds of tropical trees, with over 2,260 species of ferns, and 1,100 species of mushrooms.
This diversity is due to the fact that the Amazon’s temperature range is between 16°C and 34°C (61°F and 95°F) and that the Amazon is home to over 14,000 species of animals, including over 1,500 different species of turtles, 20 different species of birds, 16 different species of armadillos, 10 different species of frogs, and 10 different species of lizards.
The Amazon rain forests have the largest percentage of species in the World. Due
