Source: MakeLemonade.nz
The Amazon rain forest is likely losing resilience, data analysis from high-resolution satellite images suggests, new research says.
This is due to stress from a combination of logging and burning — the influence of human-caused climate change is not clearly determinable so far, but will likely matter greatly in the future.
The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Technical University of Munich, have conducted a study jointly with researchers from the University of Exeter, UK and confirmed the rain forest is at tipping point,
For about three quarters of the forest, the ability to recover from perturbation has been decreasing since the early 2000s, which the scientists see as a warning sign. The new evidence is derived from advanced statistical analysis of satellite data of changes in vegetation biomass and productivity.
Alongside damage from oil spills, the Amazon rain forest is particularly affected by the way we produce food. According to WWF, 80 percent of deforestation is due to extensive cattle farming.
The world’s largest rainforest has lost at least 17 percent of its forest cover in the last 50 years due to human activity, it says.
The Amazon rain forest is being deforested at an alarming rate and last year, it was reported the rain forest emits more carbon than it absorbs for the first time ever.
The 6.7 million square km forest, often referred to as the lungs of the planet, once helped sequester carbon. But now, it expels 1.5 billion tonnes of it a year.
In January, Brazil recorded the most deforestation ever in the Amazon. A total of 430 square kilometres of forest was destroyed last month – five times more than in January 2021.
The Amazon is considered a potential tipping element for the planet and a number of studies revealed its vulnerability.
Previous studies based on computer simulations indicated that large parts of the Amazon can be committed to dieback before showing a strong change in the mean state. New research shows in many areas destabilisation indeed seems to be underway already.
