The Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system.
The Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system. A new Nature study by an international research team including scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research (PIK) reveals that up to 47 percent of the Amazonian forest is threatened and identifies climatic and land-use thresholds that should not be breached to keep the Amazon resilient.
“The Southeastern Amazon has already shifted from a carbon sink to a source –meaning that the current amount of human pressure is too high for the region to maintain its status as a rainforest over the long term. But the problem doesn't stop there. Since rainforests enrich the air with a lot of moisture which forms the basis of precipitation in the west and south of the continent, losing forest in one place can lead to losing forest in another in a self-propelling feedback loop or simply ‘tipping’”, states PIK scientist Boris Sakschewski, one of the authors of the study.
Up to 47 Percent of the Amazon Rainforest Threatened by Droughts and Fires
Recent stress from increased temperatures, droughts, deforestation, and fires even in central and remote parts is weakening the Amazon's natural resilience mechanisms, pushing this system towards a critical threshold. The study finds that by the year 2050, 10-47 percent of the Amazonian forests will be threatened by increasing disturbances, risking to cross a tipping point.
Read more at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Photo Credit: HarryJBurgess via Pixabay
