Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Amazon rainforest reaching tipping point, researchers say
The Amazon rainforest is a tropical rainforest that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. The majority of the forest is in Brazil and the rest is in Peru, Columbia, and some other surrounding countries. It represents more than half of the world’s remaining rainforests and is home to one out of every 10 known species on the planet. It had been thought the rainforest produced over a quarter of the Earth’s oxygen but is now estimated that the balance of oxygen production and carbon absorption is about break even. Moreover, about one-fifth of the rainforest has already been lost since the industrial revolution took place. Now, new research from satellite data between 1991 and 2016 found that the health of the Amazon rainforest is in great danger. The data shows signs of a loss of resilience, meaning trees now take longer to recover from effects and damages caused by droughts, deforestation, and fires. If human destruction and global warming continue, a large part of the rainforest is feared to be transformed into a savanna, a mixed woodland-grassland area that has a very different ecosystem from rainforests. Will we be able to breathe the air in the near future?
Read the article and learn about the changes in the Amazon rain forest.
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