A new study carried out by the University of Exeter, the Potsdam institute for Climate Impact Research and the Technical University of Munich has suggested that the Amazon rainforest has been so badly damaged that it is beginning to lose its ability to bounce back.
Damage caused by deforestation, droughts and fires could push the rainforest to the point where large areas of savannah develop, which are mainly made up of grassland and trees and are not as efficient at removing carbon dioxide as the forest would be.
Using three decades of satellite data, the researchers were able to show alarming trends in the overall health of the rainforest. Dr Chris Boulton of the University of Exeter said "The trees are losing health and could be approaching a tipping point - basically, a mass loss of trees."
It is believed that there is a loss of resilience in more than 75% of the forest, with trees taking longer to recover from droughts, fuelled by climate change, and deforestation. This could then lead to "dieback".
At this point, it is not clear whether the Amazon rainforest has hit or passed breaking point. However, it is known that crossing that point would be devastating for the climate, biodiversity and the communities who rely on the rainforest. Once this happens, it could only be decades before a large amount of the Amazon turns into savannah.
In a stark warning, Dr Boulton said, "The Amazon stores lots of carbon and all of that would be released into the atmosphere, which would then further contribute to increasing temperatures and have future effects on global mean temperatures." However, stopping deforestation could go a long way to address this issue.
