Oceans, the Amazon Rainforest and Our Lungs

What do oceans, the Amazon rainforest and our lungs have in common? There is a very profound correlation, and if we care about our health and the health of our children, we had better understand the connection.

Oceans generate 50% of our oxygen as microscopic organisms called plankton absorb sunlight and convert it into oxygen via a process called photosynthesis. Sadly, entire oceanic regions are exhibiting oxygen depletion and dead zones have quadrupled in the last 50 years. A massive dead zone off the U.S. coast measures more than 8,000 square miles. Already overfished and severely contaminated by chemicals and plastic waste, oceans are expected to lose approximately 3% to 4% of their oxygen production by the end of this century. 

The other 50% of our oxygen is created on land by trees, shrubs and grasses. Ten million years old, the Amazon rainforest, often referred to as the lungs of the earth, contributes 20% of this total. But as people seeking land and fortunes flock to the rainforest, the sounds of chainsaws, gunshots and bulldozers grow louder by the day. Home to 390 billion trees, the Amazon is losing 10,000 acres a day to deforestation. Trees play a crucial role in returning water back into the atmosphere and this rapid decline means less rainfall, higher temperatures, droughts, extended dry seasons, and less oxygen. By 2050, the Amazon could reach an ecological tipping point and transition into savanna grasslands or other degraded ecosystems.  

Defined as chemical, physical or biological agents that contaminate the atmosphere, air pollution is the largest external threat to human health. As our lungs breathe in these invisible toxins, they end up in our cells and organs. World Health Organization data shows that 99% of the global population breathes air that contains high levels of pollutants, with low and middle-income countries suffering from the highest exposures. Worldwide, one in ten people die from diseases attributed to air pollution. 2,000 children, or more than one child per minute, dies daily due to air pollution. Workforce productivity also suffers.  

Of all the bodily functions, only the brain possesses greater complexity and more capabilities than the lungs. We can go without food and water for days, but we can’t live without air for more than a few minutes. Breathing is the first thing we do when we are born and the last thing we do before we die. 

Having a surface area the size of a tennis court and 1,500 miles of airways, the lungs take 22,000 breaths every 24 hours. The left lung, slightly smaller to allow room for the heart, is divided into two lobes, while the right lung is divided into three. There are 300 to 500 million tiny air sacs in the lungs called alveoli that are enveloped by a network of blood vessels that replace carbon-dioxide waste in the blood with oxygen. The lungs can’t store oxygen, but only move it. A small amount of residual air always remains inside the lungs in order to prevent smaller airways and alveoli from collapsing and to make the next breath easier. Also, the lungs can float on water, a fact used by medical examiners to determine if a baby was stillborn. 

It is still possible to eat organic food, purify drinking water, detoxify our bodies and live sensible lifestyles, but unless we live in an air filtered dome we are all forced to breathe polluted air. Other than exercise, there is no direct way to detoxify the lungs. The best course of action is to detoxify organs like the liver, kidneys and colon. This will help purify the blood, which flows into the lungs with every heartbeat. In a process call gas exchange, the blood supplies oxygen to the lungs and then removes carbon dioxide. The oxygenated blood returns to the heart and gets pumped throughout the body. 

A shortage of oxygen will affect every organ, especially the brain and heart, both of which have high oxygen requirements. The liver, kidneys and other organs also require oxygen for their vital functions. Diseases detest high levels of oxygenation, so get plenty of fresh air, exercise regularly, practice deep breathing exercises, and detoxify regularly. 

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