Let's show you this image.

讓我們來看看這張圖片。

It's a map showing the scale of the Brazilian rainforest in 1985.

這是一張顯示 1985 年巴西熱帶雨林規模的地圖。

The dark green section is the Amazon.

深綠色部分是亞馬遜河。

Now, look at this.

現在，看看這個。

The same country in 2023.

2023 年的同一個國家。

And you can see how much of the forest has disappeared.

你可以看到森林消失了多少。

Let's speak to Professor Michael Sweet, head of the Nature-Based Solutions Research Centre at the University of Derby.

讓我們來聽聽德比大學自然解決方案研究中心主任 Michael Sweet 教授的看法。

Very good to have you with us, Michael. I think it almost needs repeating, doesn't it?

很高興你加入我嗎，Michael。我想這需要重複說一遍，

That Amazon has lost an area the size of Germany and France combined in four decades.

四十年間，亞馬遜失去的土地面積相當於德國和法國的總和。

Just take us through what's happening to one of the world's most precious resources.

帶我們瞭解一下世界上最珍貴的資源之一的現況吧。

Yeah, so that's 12.5% of the Amazon's cover.

是的，這佔亞馬遜覆蓋面積的12. 5%。

Previously, people have been talking about deforestation of around 17%.

此前，人們一直在談論約 17% 的森林砍伐率。

So it's not unsurprising, this value.

這個數量並不奇怪。

But it's the first time that it's been catalogued in such a reliable method.

但用如此可靠的方法進行編目還是第一次。

So that's one fifth of the entire Amazon, which is now gone.

這相當於整個亞馬遜河的五分之一，現在已經消失了。

But it gets even worse than that, because unfortunately, more and more hectares are at threat.

但情況比這更糟，因為不幸的是，越來越多的公頃土地受到威脅。

So it's thought to be about 38% of the forests as well, on top of that, are actually in a degraded state.

據估計，約有38%的森林處於退化狀態。

And Michael, this is the fault of humankind?

Michael，這都是人類的錯嗎？

Yeah, so sadly, it's mostly deforestation associated with agriculture, for the most part.

是啊，可悲的是，大部分的森林砍伐都與農業有關。

But then it's also entwined and linked with aspects of climate change, which again, are anthropogenically driven, so human-derived climate change.

但是，它也與氣候變化的某些方面糾纏在一起，並與之相關聯。

And that's causing the forests to dry out a lot more, so they're witnessing less rain.

這導致森林更加乾燥，雨水減少。

And so the Amazon, on top of losing the trees, the important tree aspects, and obviously the biodiversity which goes with that, the rivers are starting to dry out as well.

亞馬遜河不僅失去了重要的樹木和生物多樣性，河流也開始乾涸。

And obviously, the Amazon is famous for its river, as well as being the lungs of our planet, as the trees are concerned.

顯然，亞馬遜河因其河流而聞名，同時也是我們地球的肺，因為樹木正在死亡。

And we're now starting to see devastating effects with this recently 120 of the endangered river dolphins being found dead as the river subsides.

我們現在開始看到毀滅性的影響，最近發現 120 頭瀕臨滅絕的河豚因河水退去而死亡。

Professor Michael Sweet, thank you very much for joining us.

Michael Sweet 教授，非常感謝你接受我們的採訪。