Amazon rainforest is emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs in some areas, study says

Parts of the Amazon rainforest are now emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, raising fears of the potentially devastating impact on its fragile ecosystems and a further worsening of the climate crisis, according to a new study.

The research, published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature, says the Amazon’s vital role as a carbon sink — absorbing massive amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to cool the Earth — is under threat.

“This carbon sink seems to be in decline,” the study said. “Over the past 40 years, eastern Amazonia has been subjected to more deforestation, warming and moisture stress than the western part, especially during the dry season.”

Over nine years, researchers led by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research conducted close to 600 flights over four main sites in the Brazilian Amazon, collecting data on the amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere.

They found that collectively, these four sites emit 410 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, caused mainly by large fires — often set by humans. These emissions are partially offset by the same regions absorbing about 120 million metric tons of carbon per year; but that’s still 290 million metric tons in net emissions — about the same as the entire country of Thailand produces in a year.

These damaging factors — deforestation, land burning, and effects of climate change — “may have lasting, negative consequences for both the carbon balance of the region and the fragility of its ecosystems,” warned a news release by Nature.

The Amazon, roughly half the size of the 48 contiguous United States, is the largest rainforest on the planet. Its environment is intricately linked with the balance of its ecosystems, home to countless species of fauna and flora.