Bad News Once More

 

The Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it is able to absorb, scientists have confirmed.  The giant forest had previously been a carbon sink, absorbing the emissions driving the climate crisis, but is now causing its acceleration, researchers said.

The emissions amount to a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to a study. The research is published in the journal Nature

The emissions are mostly caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef and soy production. Much of the beef and soy from the Amazon is exported from Brazil.

But even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2, rather than a sink.

The scientists said the discovery that part of the Amazon was emitting carbon even without fires was particularly worrying. They said it was most likely the result of each year’s deforestation and fires making adjacent forests more susceptible the next year. The trees produce much of the region’s rain, so fewer trees mean more severe droughts and heatwaves and more tree deaths and fires.

 Losing the Amazon’s power to capture CO2 is a stark warning that slashing emissions from fossil fuels is more urgent than ever, scientists said.

Luciana Gatti, at the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil and who led the research, said:

“The first very bad news is that forest burning produces around three times more CO2 than the forest absorbs. The second bad news is that the places where deforestation is 30% or more show carbon emissions 10 times higher than where deforestation is lower than 20%.”

Fewer trees meant less rain and higher temperatures, making the dry season even worse for the remaining forest, she said: “We have a very negative loop that makes the forest more susceptible to uncontrolled fires.”

Gatti continued, “Imagine if we could prohibit fires in the Amazon – it could be a carbon sink. But we are doing the opposite – we are accelerating climate change.” She added, “The worst part is we don’t use science to make decisions,” she said. “People think that converting more land to agriculture will mean more productivity, but in fact, we lose productivity because of the negative impact on rain.”

Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs | Amazon rainforest | The Guardian