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Thanks to Us, the Amazon Is Now a Net Greenhouse Gas Emitter, Study Finds 16/04/2021
An aerial view of the Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil. Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT
Something is wrong in the lungs of the world. Decades of burning, logging, mining and development have tipped the scales, and now the Amazon Basin may be emitting more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.
Most of the conversation about climate change is dominated by carbon dioxide. While CO2 plays a critical role in the complex climate equation, other forces such as methane, nitrous oxide, aerosols and black carbon are also factors.
In a first-of-its-kind effort, a group of 31 scientists calculated the balance of all natural and human-caused greenhouse gases coming in and out of the massive Amazon Basin. The team concluded that warming of the atmosphere from agents other than CO2 likely exceeds the climate benefits the Amazon provides via CO2 uptake. Or more simply: due to humans, the Amazon Basin is
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A study discovered current warming from methane and nitrous oxide in the Amazon Basin offsets-and most likely exceeds-the ability it has to soak up CO2.
| Last updated
5:46 PM, March 14 2021 GMT
A new study has found that the Amazon rainforest could now be emitting more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, looked at numerous factors within the Amazon, including deforestation, fires and the weathers, and concluded that greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, are being emitted in the Amazon basin offset and now most likely exceed the area s ability to soak up the emissions.
Credit: PA
It is the first study to take a broad look at the effects of both human and natural activities that could contribute to climate change, as well as all greenhouse gasses and not just CO2.