The Amazon Rainforest Is at Risk of Becoming Savanna
New research, reliant on satellite data, shows that 75% of the rainforest is losing the ability to bounce back from drought and human activity.
Smoke rises as fires burn in the Amazon rainforest in the Candeias do Jamari region of Porto Velho, Rondonia state, Brazil in 2019.
Photographer: Leonardo Carrato/BloombergThree-quarters of the Amazon rainforest may be speeding toward a "tipping point" that, if passed, could leave the world’s critical tropical biome a relatively dry savanna within a few decades, according to new research published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Researchers for years have used complicated models to project if or when the region might cross such a threshold. What’s new about this research is its reliance on satellite data to measure changes in how quickly the forests bounce back after drought, fire or human activity. The Amazon plays an important role in the world and regional climate systems, redistributing water around South America, influencing the global atmospheric circulation, protecting biodiversity and storing many billions of tons of carbon dioxide that would otherwise increase global heating.