Amazon rainforest could reach 'tipping point' by 2050, scientists warn

Also: Amazon tipping point: Up to 47% forest threatened by climate change and deforestation, study warns (Euronews)

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Source: The Guardian

Amazon rainforest could reach ‘tipping point’ by 2050, scientists warn

‘We need to respond now,’ says author of study that says crucial forest has already passed safe boundary and needs restoration

Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
@jonathanwatts
Wed 14 Feb 2024 17.18 GMT

Up to half of the Amazon rainforest could hit a tipping point by 2050 as a result of water stress, land clearance and climate disruption, a study has shown.

The paper, which is the most comprehensive to date in its analysis of the compounding impacts of local human activity and the global climate crisis, warned that the forest had already passed a safe boundary and urged remedial action to restore degraded areas and improve the resilience of the ecosystem.

Bernardo Flores of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, the lead author of the study, said he was surprised by the results, which projected a potential shift from slow to rapid forest decline earlier than he had expected.

The forest was already becoming weaker and more homogenous, he said. “By 2050, it will accelerate rapidly. We need to respond now. Once we pass the tipping point, we will lose control of how the system will behave.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/14/amazon-rainforest-could-reach-tipping-point-by-2050-scientists-warn

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Source: Euronews

Amazon tipping point: Up to 47% forest threatened by climate change and deforestation, study warns

The vital ecosystem could also flip between rainforest and Savanna-like vegetation if drought deepens, the research finds.

By Lottie Limb
Published on 14/02/2024 - 17:00

The Amazon rainforest is approaching a tipping point which would have devastating consequences for the world’s climate system, new research shows.

Up to 47 per cent of ‘the planet’s lungs’ could be threatened by rising temperatures, droughts, deforestation and fires by 2050, according to scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research (PIK) in Germany.

The southeastern Amazon in Brazil has already shifted from being a carbon sink to a carbon source, meaning it emits more of the greenhouse gas than it absorbs.

As PIK scientist Boris Sakschewski explains, that proves “the current amount of human pressure is too high for the region to maintain its status as a rainforest over the long term.”

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Read more: https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/02/14/amazon-tipping-point-up-to-47-forest-threatened-by-climate-change-and-deforestation-study-