The Amazon rainforest, long known as the ‘lungs of our planet,’ now releases more carbon than it absorbs

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🗞️ Driving the news: The Amazon rainforest is increasingly releasing more carbon than it absorbs, according to a new study published in Nature
• Deforestation, drought and wildfires are weakening the forest's ability to function as a carbon sink, potentially transforming one of the world's most important climate regulators into a net carbon emitter

🔭 The context: Led by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, an international research team analyzed 15 years of atmospheric carbon measurements collected by research aircraft
• Researchers compared years characterized by different levels of human activity and climate stress, including deforestation, logging, fires, drought and heat waves
• The findings indicate that the Amazon approaches carbon neutrality only during its wettest years, particularly when human pressures remain relatively low

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The Amazon's declining carbon absorption capacity threatens a critical natural mechanism for limiting atmospheric greenhouse gases
• Its transition toward carbon emissions could further intensify global warming, while reinforcing the urgency of protecting forests from deforestation and fire

⏭️ What’s next: The research underscores the importance of reducing human-driven forest degradation while addressing climate stress
• Protecting the Amazon's carbon balance will increasingly depend on limiting deforestation, preventing wildfires and preserving the conditions that allow the rainforest to recover

💬 One quote: The researchers describe the Amazon's relatively wet, low-disturbance years as periods when the forest: “did not significantly contribute to the global carbon balance”

📈 One stat: 15 years: The period covered by atmospheric carbon measurements collected by research aircraft and analyzed in the study

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