Brazilian Scientists Count Carbon in Amazon Rainforest
January 14, 2021
Forestry student Mateus Sanquetta observes as day laborer Ilandio Pereira da Silva cuts down a tree in the Amazon to measure its carbon levels in Itapua do Oeste, Rondonia state, Brazil November 4, 2020. (REUTERS/Jake Spring)
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A small group of scientists carried
machetes through the Amazon Rainforest. They cut through dense plant life as the mid-morning temperature rose above 38 Celsius.
The group of men and women cut into trees. They dug into the soil and painted words across tree parts.
“It’s destructive, but we only do it for a few trees,” said Carlos Roberto Sanquetta. He is a forestry engineering professor at the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil.
6-MIN READ
Wielding Machetes and Calipers, Sweat-soaked Scientists Count Carbon in Amazon Rainforest
Antonio Laffayete Silveira, a forestry engineering professor at the Federal University of Rondonia, and botanist count smaller plants in a 1-by-1 meter frame on a parcel of Amazon rainforest in Itapua do Oeste, Rondonia state, Brazil.
REUTERS/Jake Spring
The Brazilian team is just one contingent among hundreds of researchers seeking to measure carbon in the complex and environmentally crucial Amazon rainforest ecosystem, which sprawls across more than six million square kilometers in nine countries.
Reuters ITAPUÃ DO OESTE, Brazil
Last Updated:January 12, 2021, 09:08 IST
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The machete-wielding scientists ventured into the Amazon, hacking through dense jungle as the mid-morning temperature soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C).