The Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it can take in; scientists have confirmed for the first time.
According to a study, the emissions amount to a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year. Researchers said the giant forest had previously been a carbon sink, taking in the emissions driving the climate crisis, but is now causing its acceleration.
Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef and soy production. But even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2 rather than a sink.
The Amazon, home to the world’s largest tropical forest, has played a key role in absorbing and storing much of that carbon. But the growing impacts of climate change and deforestation are taking their toll on this crucial CO2 sponge.
Earlier this year,a study showed that the rainforest in Brazil released about 20% more CO2 into the atmosphere than it took in over the period from 2010-2019.
This new paper underlines that change and finds that some rainforest regions were “a steadily increasing source” of carbon between 2010 and 2018. A source of carbon is an area of the Earth that releases more carbon than it stores.
Now, the researchers are worried that the changing climate is also interfering with rainfall, which, they argue, has immediate consequences for Brazil. Other scientists who work in this field say that the latest findings are consistent with changes that a range of studies have already shown.
