Science Alert January 1, 2021
Researchers at the University of Florida reviewed recent research on the Amazon rainforest to reach a grim conclusion. Lengthening dry seasons will soon no longer allow the rainforest canopies the five years they need in between dry seasons to recover from fires, allowing flammable grasses and shrubs to take over. Southern Amazonia can expect to reach a tipping point sometime before 2064 at the current rate of dry season lengthening. Like dominos, models predict once 30-50 percent deforestation is reached in the south, this will decrease the amount of rain by up to 40 percent in the west. If this dire scenario plays out, water security will evaporate for over 35 million people who live in this region. In the past the Amazon rainforest has survived periods of much warmer climates, but without the other extreme damage our activities are inflicting. Stressed and weakened communities of animals become fertile breeding grounds for the next virulent pathogen…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Anolis fuscuauratus, Anole, sitting on a leaf in the Amazon rainforest in Peru at nighttime. Credit: Ulrike Langner@u_langner