THE AMAZON IS NOT THE LUNG OF THE WORLD
"A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth".
The famous quote by Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister in Nazi Germany, allows us to reflect on the impact of "Fakes News" on our society.
With information just a click away, we are inclined to more easily share alarming or emotional news.
According to recent surveys, more than half of Brazilians have already shared some fake news without knowing it. This takes on ever-greater proportions when the person sharing the false information is a famous personality.
As news of fires in the world's largest rainforest spread, so did a misleading statement: "The Amazon is the lung of the world, and represents 20% of the oxygen produced on the planet."
This claim has appeared in the news and on social media posts by politicians and celebrities such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Vice President Kamala Harris, and actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio.
However, this value is invented. The Amazon's contribution to the oxygen we breathe is around zero, as the forest also carries out the breathing process.
"There are a number of reasons why you would like to keep the Amazon whole, but oxygen is not one of them." - Michael Coe, geoscientist.
Trees just don't exhale oxygen, they also consume it.
The real lungs of the world are marine algae, which produce more oxygen for photosynthesis than they need for breathing, and the excess is released into the atmosphere.
All these events serve to show us that many personalities that guide the public debate have no idea what they are divulging.
Source: Brasil Paralelo