Green Pulse Ep 5: How tropical rainforests are important world carbon sinks

8:46 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

In this episode, we chat with Dr Arief Wijaya, senior manager for climate and forests at the World Resources Institute Indonesia, on the importance of tropical rainforests - ecosystems that help to regulate the amount of heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere.

Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. But human activities, such as deforestation and poaching, are affecting the their ability to play this role.

This December, the annual United Nations climate change talks will take place in Chile, South America. The region is home to the Amazon, the largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Large swathes of tropical rainforests can also found be found closer to Singapore. South-east Asia is home to the third largest rainforest in the world, and patches of them can be found in Singapore, in places such as the Central Catchment and Bukit Timah Nature Reserves.

Produced by: Audrey Tan (audreyt@sph.com.sg) and Mark Cheong (mcheong@sph.com.sg)

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Edited by: Adam Azlee

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