The Amazon forest has been a reliable carbon sink, soaking up some of humanity’s carbon emissions, but a severe drought in 2023 adds to growing concern that this ecosystem service is at risk.
Amazonia
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Drought Drove the Amazon’s 2023 Switch to a Carbon Source
The change was caused by thirsty vegetation taking up less carbon than normal, not by the year’s extended fire season, new research shows.
Posted inNews
How Ancient Indigenous Societies Made Today’s Amazon More Resilient
Portions of the forest managed by pre-Columbian populations hold higher biomass and are more able to withstand climate change.
Posted inNews
Fire Encroaches on One of the Amazon’s Most Pristine Indigenous Lands
New research shows how recurring wildfires in the buffer zones around Brazil’s Vale do Javari may undermine one of the Amazon’s last great refuges for isolated Indigenous peoples.
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En algunas partes de la Amazonia brasileña, la ciencia lidera la lucha contra los incendios forestales
El estado de Acre utiliza la ciencia para optimizar sus limitados recursos para monitorear y combatir los incendios forestales y la destrucción ambiental.
Posted inNews
As CO2 Levels Rise, Old Amazon Trees Are Getting Bigger
New data show resilience among the rainforest’s giants, though scientists warn that nutrient limits and rising heat could end the trend.
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Fire, Not Deforestation, Is Now the Amazon’s Biggest Carbon Emitter
Forest degradation in the Amazon increased by 400% in 2024. It was largely driven by wildfires during the forest’s worst fire season in more than 20 years.
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In Parts of the Brazilian Amazon, Science Leads the Fight Against Forest Fire
The state of Acre counts on science to optimize its limited resources for monitoring and combating forest fires and environmental destruction.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Living Near an Indigenous Forest Could Reduce the Risk of Disease
An analysis of 20 years of health data in eight Amazonian countries, published today in Communications Earth and Environment, shows that protecting Indigenous-managed forests may help reduce various kinds of disease, including fire-related respiratory diseases and illnesses spread by animals.
Posted inNews
Artisanal Gold Mining Is Destroying Amazonian Peatlands
A new analysis of archived satellite imagery has revealed that the growing presence of small-scale mining in the Peruvian Amazon is threatening carbon reserves and unique ecosystems.