The Amazon Rainforest is known as the "lungs of the earth" because it draws in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. But it is also the biological heart of the planet's hydroclimate system, the planet's rain making machine. We have lost almost 20 % of the forest and are close to reaching a tipping point where it will turn to grassland. What will that mean for us, and how can we prevent the dieback? We can calm the weather and cool the planet within one generation by protecting and reforesting the rainforests of the planet and reshaping food production in those areas from open canopy monocultures to largely closed canopy forms of agroforestry/permaculture. This massive regeneration process restores the disrupted water cycle on a micro and macro level, restores degraded soils and dampens the destructive effects of extreme weather events. If the world embraces this regenerative work at the scale and speed of the challenge, we can avert a climate catastrophe and the collapse of biodiversity while massively improving food-security, substantially reducing poverty and meeting most of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Jon Schull, co-founder of the EcoRestoration Alliance will moderate a discussion with panelists Rob de Laet, co-founder of the World Climate School and Atossa Soltani, founder of Amazon Watch and director Global Strategy for Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative. Our speakers will show us how massive regeneration can restore disrupted water cycles and degraded soils and moderate the destructive effects of extreme weather events. A full holistic way to support forest economies that don't rely on cutting down trees and paradoxically killing the forests is possible. This program is hosted by the GBH Forum Network and its partner organization, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate.
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