The Amazon rainforest is shrinking at an alarming rate due to an increase in human activity within the rainforest, as well as fires and deforestation. Human activity, like climate change, cattle farming, soy farming, and colonization has brought the “lungs of the planet” near the tipping point. In other words, with as much as 17% of the forest lost already, scientists believe that the tipping point will be reached at 20% to 25% of deforestation even if climate change is tamed. If global temperatures rise by 4°C as predicted, the central, eastern, and southern Amazon is highly likely to become barren scrubland.

Paired with colonization within the rainforest, warming global temperatures, and environmental degradation, the Amazon may not exist at all within a few generations, which will have dire consequences for life on earth. As the Amazon continues to be neglected by Brazil and the world, the entire global population will soon have to face serious global consequences. Trees play a crucial...