Feb 11, 2020
Amazon: Parts of rainforest 'emitting more CO2 than they absorb'
Up to one fifth of the Amazon rainforest is emitting more CO2 than it absorbs, new research suggests. Results from a decade-long study of greenhouse gasses over the Amazon basin appear to show around 20% of the total area has become a net source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. What they found was startling: while most of the rainforest still retains its ability to absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide - especially in wetter years - one portion of the forest, which is especially heavily deforested, appears to have lost that capacity. Areas of deforestation also contribute to the Amazon's inability to absorb carbon. For decades, scientists have warned of an "Amazon tipping-point": the point at which the forest loses its ability to renew itself and begins to emit more carbon than it absorbs.
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