Red alert: This is how the rainforest endangers our climate and our future!

Red alert: This is how the rainforest endangers our climate and our future!

The importance of tropical rainforests is often underestimated, but they play a crucial role in global climate protection. These unique ecosystems function in balance: dead plants decompose quickly and nutrients return to the soil. But this natural cycle is seriously endangered by deforestation and climate change, as the [Potsdam](https://www.potsdam.de/de/ Veranstaltung/vom-regenwald-bis-zur-restmuelltonne-132) event makes clear. Biosphere Potsdam's commitment to environmental protection and sustainability becomes clear here by showing how each individual can contribute to the cleanliness of the world.

Particularly alarming: Rainforests remove greenhouse gases from the air and are considered large carbon stores. However, current climate assessments often only take into account the size of the areas deforested. The latest research by scientists from Leipzig has now examined the long-term consequences of deforestation. According to their results, rainforest clearance accounts for around a ninth of all human-caused carbon emissions, which further accelerates climate change, as the Federal Environment Agency points out.

The challenge for our future

In the past, forests have absorbed around 7.8 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually, which corresponds to around a fifth of man-made emissions. But this ability is increasingly threatened by climatic changes and human interventions such as deforestation, reports the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The lead author Michael Windisch warns that failures in climate protection could make achieving the Paris climate goals much more difficult.

A delay of just five years in emissions reductions could make offsetting the lost carbon much more difficult and double the costs. Current climate protection strategies assume that forests are maintained and their area increases, with the risk of forest fires and deforestation remaining consistently high. It is therefore essential to act early to secure the carbon stored in forests.

A call to action

The challenges ahead require a rethinking of how we deal with our forests. It is time to establish sustainable land use practices to both protect biodiversity and avoid economic damage. The modernized circular economy, which focuses on resource conservation, separation of materials and recycling, can play a decisive role here. Ultimately, the exhibition in Potsdam shows how the circular economy works in concrete terms and that every individual can make a contribution to making the world cleaner and fairer.