Amazon, world’s largest carbon sink, at tipping point of destruction: Study

Scientists have, for years, warned of an impending crisis looming large over the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. Unfortunately, the prediction seems to be coming true.

As things stand today, almost one fifth of the rainforest has already been lost, compared to pre-industrial levels.

A 30-year-long study suggests the forest, which was considered important for absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, is now emitting more CO2 than it can absorb. The BBC quoted researchers to say the Amazon rainforest is steadily moving towards a “tipping point” where trees may vanish in large numbers.

After suffering years of ‘harassment’ by way of fires, droughts and deforestation, the forest seems to have reached the point of no return, which is a matter of grave concern mainly because the rainforest not only absorbed tonnes and tonnes of CO2 but also provided home to rich biodiversity, which is so essential to maintain the ecological balance of the earth.

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While the Amazon has been under attack from humans for many years now, what is worrying is the fact that about 3/4th of the rainforest seems to have lost the resilience to recover from the impacts of droughts, deforestation and fires – all caused due to human excesses.

Researchers from the University of Exeter, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Technical University of Munich used satellite data of three decades to express fear that the dense forest may soon give way to sparsely forested savannah, which is not as good as a tropical forest in absorbing gases that cause global warming.

Dr Chris Boulton of the University of Exeter told BBC that the trees at Amazon are not healthy and the forest could soon approach a tipping point. “Basically, a mass loss of trees,” he said, adding that afforestation of Amazon may help mitigate the problem to some extent.

Scientists are yet to predict when the “tipping point” would come, but are sure the effects of it will be largely felt by way of climate change, biodiversity loss and loss of livelihood for the local community. In a matter of 20 years or so, the rich rainforest could turn into a savannah – mostly made of grassland and trees.

Dr Boulton said that the survival of Amazon is vital for human survival because the forest stores lots of carbon. “All of that would be released into the atmosphere, which would then further contribute to increasing temperatures and have future effects on global mean temperatures,” he added.