From Paradise to Potential Peril: The Amazon's Pollution Problem

The Amazon rainforest may be in grave danger... but all is not lost just yet.

The Amazon rainforest is home to more than 1205 different animal species, 1300 bird species and almost 80,000 plant species, making it the biggest natural ecosystem in the world. The jungle itself covers an unfathomable 6.7 million square kilometres, which is twice the size of the entire country of India. So theoretically, the centre of this massive rainforest should be free from any human intervention, right? As much as the wildlife wants that to be true, there is a metal tower in the heart of the jungle, which stands 325 metres tall, about 13 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, used to collect various amounts of data from the jungle.

 

However, the wildlife and vegetation in the Amazon may be under imminent threat, as research conducted by a professor at Coventry University revealed an alarming chemical found for the first time in the heart of the rainforest. Dr. Ivan Kourtchev, Assistant Professor of Research at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, was the first to notice the occurrence of ‘forever chemicals’ or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are a family of human made substances that are used to make items such as non-stick frying pans, food packaging including pizza boxes and popcorn bags, coatings on paper, and adhesives.

The first deduction as to how the chemicals got there in the first place from Dr Ivan was from planes carrying fire suppressing foam top fight forest fires. In 2023, the Amazon rainforest saw more than 126,000 forest fires throughout the year, and the most effective way to fight them is by spraying the fire suppressing foam through the air. The foam could have been a cause of finding these PFAS so deep into the forest. However, the Brazilian Air Force denied using such chemicals, which brought the professors back to square one. “The cause of these chemicals is still unknown; however our best guess is the burning of waste near Manaus, which led to the pollutants travelling here.” concluded Dr Ivan Kourtchev.

So, what are we doing to help save the planet and reduce our carbon and waste footprint? One company in collaboration with Coventry University is working on a way to make air travel completely carbon neutral. The Aerospace Technology Institute in the UK has recognised hydrogen as the likely future of flying. ZeroAvia and the Centre for Advanced Low-Carbon Propulsion Systems at the university are creating a bespoke Hydrogen Fuel Cell, to make your next flight emit a sum of zero carbon monoxide or dioxide. The UK government also gave a £10.6 million grant to ZeroAvia for this project.

Professor Oliver Curnick said, “ZeroAvia has already demonstrated a passenger fuel cell aircraft that takes off from the Cotswold airport regularly. That uses a low temperature fuel cell at the moment, which may not be suited for mass production.” He further stated, “The professors at the university are hard at work to create a next generation high temperature fuel cell, which can be mass produced and last for tens of thousands of hours in a commercial aircraft.” The technology is cutting edge and uses a combination of hydrogen and electric powertrains to get the maximum amount of performance from their engines.

In partnership with Coventry University, ZeroAvia is planning to have the new fuel cell ready and in the air in the early 2030s. The airline industry is responsible for more than 5% of the increase in global warming and around 3% in the total CO2 emissions. If this revolutionary technology comes into effect in the next few years, it could greatly reduce the annual CO2 emissions that are harming our environment and the wildlife and vegetation in rainforests similar to the Amazon.

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