What If the Amazon Rainforest Is Completely Burned?

The immense tropical rainforest that covers a large portion of the basin of the Amazon

River in South America is frequently referred to as the "lungs of the earth." Some people believe

that the Amazon Rainforest is solely responsible for the production of 20% of the oxygen that

exists on Earth, but is this actually the case? As 2019 brings the region more fires than it has seen

in almost a decade, some people are asking what would happen to the supply of oxygen on Earth

if the entire Amazon were to burn to the ground. This is because 2019 brings the region more

fires than it has seen in almost a decade. Would the Earth really lose 20% of its oxygen, or would

there be other, more ominous surprises in store for us instead?

To answer your question in a nutshell, no, the Amazon Rainforest would not be

responsible for the loss of 20 percent of the planet's oxygen. Many of us learned in school that

plants produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. As a result, it seems reasonable to

think that one of the largest visible regions of photosynthesis on the planet might just be Earth's

primary oxygen factory. This is because photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert

carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. On the other hand, the connections between

tropical forests and oxygen are rather more convoluted. It is true that living plants produce

oxygen, and tropical rainforests are major contributors to this process; however, it is essential to

keep in mind that decomposing plants, such as those that have died and rotted, as well as plants

that have been burned, consume oxygen in order to produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct of the

decomposition and combustion processes. Many atmospheric scientists believe that the Amazon,

Earth's rainforests, or even Earth's forests as a whole are not net oxygen producers, at

least not in any appreciable sense, because all plants die sooner or later. This is because the ratio

between a plant producing oxygen in life and consuming oxygen in death is often 1:1. Because
of this, the ratio between a plant producing oxygen in life and consuming oxygen in death is

often 1:1.

Marine algae are the source of the surplus oxygen that is found in the atmosphere of the

earth, which accounts for around 21 percent of the atmosphere. Marine algae flourish in the

oceans, where they can be found floating on the water's surface and benefiting from the nutrients

that are agitated up in the seawater while simultaneously absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.

The growth of algae requires the consumption of carbon dioxide, and in exchange, algae

contribute oxygen to the atmosphere.

When algae die, they do not breakdown on the surface of the water, and because of this,

they do not consume the same quantity of oxygen from the atmosphere that they produced while

they were alive. Instead, algae sink. Some dead algae eat the oxygen that has been dissolved in

the seawater, and as they fall to the ocean floor, they begin to largely or fully decompose,

releasing the carbon that was contained in their bodies into the water. On the other hand, some

sink so quickly and so deeply that they reach depths below the oxygenated layers of the ocean

before their decomposition begins in earnest. Because they arrive on the ocean floor in a

relatively intact state, the carbon that is contained within their bodies is not released. Because of

this process, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere of Earth increases overall over the course

of millions of years.