Fossil fuel emissions cause massive amounts of carbon dioxide greenhouse gases to escape into the atmosphere. Ever since the 1990s, the Amazon Rainforest has removed more than two billion tons of that CO2, thanks to the forest’s trees and other plant life.
However, a recent, 30-year long study shows that the Amazon rainforest is quickly losing this capability, absorbing about half of what it was able to during the 1990s. For the first time, the fossil fuel emissions from Latin America are becoming more than the Amazon rainforest can handle. It appears that its trees and plants are dying off sooner than usual due to the absorption of large amounts of carbon dioxide; in fact, Dr. Roel Brienen, a lead scientist at the School of Geography from the University of Leeds, states that tree death rates have gone up by over a third.
According to the study, which is the first huge land based research conducted in the Amazon rainforest, the extra carbon dioxide initially promoted the growth of more trees. However, the amount today, combined with the effects of droughts and higher temperatures in recent years, is ultimately causing more damage, severely shortening the lifespan of the flora.
This research was printed in the journal Nature and involved the monitoring and studying of more than 300 plots of land in the six million square kilometers of the Amazon rainforest. To gather the data, the researchers recorded and took measurements of about 200,000 trees and noted new growth, along with dead trees that had occurred after 1980.
The scientists also point out that large forests in the world, like the Amazon, help to get rid of carbon dioxide all over the world. However, the world cannot depend on them to solve the problem without some type of intervention from humans. The problem requires immediate attention, since its effects in one location could ultimately affect the rest of the world, according to study researchers.
