The alarm: the Amazon will soon be a savannah

Of: Erik wiman

Published: October 05, 2020 at 11:01 PM

The Amazon is about to change from a rainforest to a savanna.

The horror scenario that researchers thought could only happen in several decades may already be about to become a reality.

– When we exceed the threshold, development is very difficult to stop, says researcher Ingo Fetzer.

The Amazon rainforest is often called the lungs of the world. A comparison that is unconvincing because the rainforest produces oxygen, while the lungs consume oxygen. Furthermore, rainforests have a unique ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

Therefore, the loss of the Amazon would have catastrophic consequences for the entire world.

Photo: Rodrigo Abd / AP TT

Part of the Amazon in Peru.

Too close to the threshold

Now we’re at that threshold, shows a new research report from the Stockholm Resilience Center presented by the journal Nature Communications. 40 percent of the Amazon is on the way to undergo a transformation from rainforest to savanna.

Researchers have previously warned of such a development, but the new results show that the tipping point is much closer than previously thought. Due to climate change, much of the Amazon already receives much less precipitation than before.

– The rainforest has the ability to produce its own rain, when areas are lost to devastation and fires reduce that possibility, says one of the researchers behind the report Ingo Fetzer.

– When development has gone far enough in the wrong direction, it is almost impossible to stop.

Record heat

Last year, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro warned that the devastation of the Amazon could lead to the disappearance of forests forever. The president has continued to criticize climatologists for interfering in Brazil’s own affairs.

This year, South America has experienced record temperatures of more than 40 degrees and in the first half of the year alone, 13,000 square kilometers of rainforest were burned, eight times the size of London.

These are signs of climate change that a unanimous body of researchers believes cannot be ignored.

Species gone forever

– Once we have crossed the threshold, we must regenerate the rainforest to a much greater extent than before because each system strives to maintain the state in which it is found. That is, a savanna seems to remain a savanna.

The report states that all of the world’s rainforests are extremely sensitive to climate change. Even if rainforests were possible to recreate, their species richness would be permanent.

– Since rainforests are home to most of all species on earth, they will be lost forever.

Published: October 05, 2020 at 11:01 PM