Dust particle studies in ice cores from the tropical Andes provide important information about climate dynamics. We investigated dust concentrations from a 22.7 m ice-core recovered from the Quelccaya Ice Cap (QIC) in 2018, representing 14 years of snow accumulation. The dust seasonality signal was still preserved with homogenization of the record due to surface melting and percolation. Using a microparticle counter, we measured the dust concentration from 2–60 μm and divided the annual dust concentration into three distinct groups: fine particle percentage (FPP, 2−10 μm), coarse particle percentage (CPP, 10−20 μm), and giant particle percentage (GPP, 20−60 μm). Increased dust was associated with the warm stage of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation index (PDO) after 2013 with significant increases in FPP and a relative decrease in CPP and GPP. There was a positive correlation between PDO and FPP (r = 0.70, p-value < 0.005). CPP and GPP were dominant during the mainly PDO co
As the Amazon unravels into savanna, its wildlife will also suffer
The transformation of the Amazon and Atlantic rainforests into savanna-like environments will change the makeup of both the flora and the fauna of these biomes.
A study by Brazilian researchers evaluated the impacts of climate change and deforestation on more than 300 mammal species under various scenarios of savannization.
Species like primates, which depend on a dense canopy of trees to survive, could lose up to 50% of their range by the end of the 21st century.
Meanwhile, species from the Cerrado scrubland, such as the maned wolf and the giant anteater, would be able to move into degraded areas of the Amazon even as their own native range is cleared by human activity.