The latest work in which the CSIC participates shows that half of the Amazon is heading towards total collapse.
Our planet is in check due to the possible loss of almost half of the Amazon. In a new study published in the journal Nature, scientists warn that the world's largest tropical forest is approaching a “tipping point” due to drought, deforestation and wildfires and could collapse by 2050.
The region known to function as the lungs of the Earth is approaching a critical tipping point that could cause a massive ecological collapse with far-reaching consequences for the global climate system.
In the coming decades, up to half of the Amazon could become grasslands or weakened ecosystems. This is a dangerous warning issued by an international research team, which includes experts from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
Inflection point To reach these conclusions, the study authors analyzed the impacts of rising temperatures, severe droughts, deforestation and forest fires.
Climate change, deforestation and severe droughts like the one currently experienced in the region are devastating large areas of the Amazon, preventing its regeneration, according to a new study. According to scientists, such stress in the most sensitive areas of the tropical forest could lead to the collapse of entire forest ecosystems. This is terrible news.
The Amazon has more than 10% of the world's biodiversity and helps stabilize the global climate, saving carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to approximately two decades of global warming.
The news is that by 2050, between 10 and 47% of this rainforest (almost half of the Amazon) will be under pressure that could cause widespread changes in the ecosystem, possibly causing this key ecosystem to stop absorbing or even release the carbon stored inside, which will cause greater global pollution and intensify its effects.
"We are approaching a potential large-scale tipping point, and we may be closer (both locally and system-wide) than we previously thought. “, Bernardo Flores, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, in Florianópolis, Brazil and lead author of the study.
Climate consequences of the loss of half of the Amazon If humidity continues to decline as much as it has, important forests could eventually convert to grasslands. The authors of the study explain that long-standing natural connections between environmental conditions and the Amazon rainforest ecosystem are being replaced by new connections, which is rapidly disturbing local wildlife and becoming more difficult for local people living in the Amazon River basin.
Borys Saksewski, co-author of the study, said: “ The southeastern Amazon has already gone from a carbon sink to a source, meaning the current amount of human pressure is too high for the region to maintain its rainforest status in the long term. "." But the problem doesn't end there. But the problem doesn't end there. Since tropical forests enrich the air with a large amount of moisture that forms the basis of precipitation in the west and south of the continent, the loss of forest in one place can lead to the loss of forest in another in a feedback loop. self-propelled or just a 'tilt "
In recent months, large areas of the Amazon have been hit by a severe drought that has dried up vital waterways, withered crops and sparked forest fires. The authors of the study note that water scarcity is a common cause of disturbances in the Amazon (which occur when there is not enough water to meet human or environmental needs) and global warming is exacerbating the effects of the scarcity of this water resource..