By Lori Lee
NDG Contributing Writer
The Amazon rainforest in South America is a powerful force for the global climate. Representing 10% of the world’s known biodiversity, according to data from the World Wildlife Fund, it ranks as one of the densest and most critical tropical rainforests on Earth.
Beyond the thousands of species of plants, of butterflies, of ants and spiders, the forest helps regulate the global climate by absorbing carbon and circulating moisture continuously. Data from conservation groups like the World Wildlife Fund shows its trees, vegetation and soil lock away an estimated 150 billion to 200 billion metric tons of carbon.
Crucially, much of the forest’s climate-regulating power relies on water. The Amazon provides the freshwater and natural resources needed to sustain millions of people. Client scientists show that to fuel this cycle, a single large tree can pump 1,000 liters of water into the air each day by drawing moisture from deep within the soil and releasing it back into the atmosphere as vapor.
Sadly, the delicate balance of this massive hydrological system is fracturing. Unchecked deforestation and industrial mining are dividing habitats and disrupting the forest’s internal rain engine. At the same time, escalating global temperatures are drying the upper tree canopy, bringing parts of the forest to a historic tipping point.
According to a landmark study published in the journal Science Advances by researchers Thomas Lovejoy and Carlos Nobre, if the forest loses just 20% to 25% of its original cover, it would spark an irreversible dieback. Deprived of its canopy, the self-sustaining rainforest would collapse into dry, low-lying brush, allowing the forest’s massive carbon stores to escape into the environment, supercharging global warming.
“What nature needs right now, given all the scientific and testimonial data, is for us to be regenerative,” explained Rosa Vásquez Espinoza at an American Community Media briefing. “It doesn’t need us to only be reactive anymore.”
A chemical biologist and the founder of Amazon Research Internacional, Vásquez Espinoza bridges modern science with the ancestral wisdom of Amazonian communities who have protected these vital ecosystems for generations.
“This regenerative philosophy is deeply rooted in Indigenous perspectives—a body of knowledge that Western scientists increasingly recognize as a vital tool for saving the rainforest,” she said. “It centers on a deep respect for different cultural understandings, championing the belief that all living things share equal rights to a healthy, clean environment.”
“There is an interdependence, an interconnection that cannot be separated,” Vásquez Espinoza noted. “That is how they have survived for generations—by caring for the land, which cares for them in return.”
Recent archaeological findings reveal the Amazon was historically home to large, settled populations, challenging the perception of it as a pristine wilderness. Vásquez Espinoza highlights that studying the ancient, sustainable agricultural practices offers crucial solutions for developing modern food systems.
“The global climate is intimately impacted by what happens in the Amazon forest, directly affecting worldwide patterns of rains and storms,” she said.
“The physical rivers we see with our own eyes are only half the story; the Amazon also harbors invisible, ‘living rivers’ within its treetops. Through constant evaporation, the dense canopy moves immense volumes of water into the atmosphere,” said Vásquez Espinoza.
The dense canopy is crucial to the system, and without it, the ecosystem collapses. Deforestation drastically alters both the forest and the global climate, she explained, This disruption breaks the chain, changing the temperature and volume of water entering the oceans, and ultimately threatening global wildlife and fueling extreme weather anomalies like El Niño.
While the systemic breakdown of the Amazon remains a global and political challenge, Vásquez Espinoza emphasizes that the path forward requires a shift toward localized action.
“To change the world, we need to first just focus on what’s around us and what can we change, even though it may feel minuscule,” she said. If global markets and local communities collectively align their demands with regenerative practices, she notes, meaningful environmental change can occur faster than ever seen before.
