Death of the Rainforest - Catastrophic Change

The Amazon rainforest is dying. It could become a desert. The study being conducted in the Amazon is absolutely devastating news.

The rainforest has been under attack for decades. Destruction for oil and gas extraction, timber, metal resources, and mass agriculture have left growing stretches of former rainforest gone. Now, an ongoing drought is bringing down the forest. The massive trees are falling in the third year of a drought.

In the process of their deaths, the stored carbon dioxide is released - adding to global warming gases. However, the exposed earth also dries which further accelerates the death of the forest. The likely result (according to researchers) is a rainforest turning into a desert.

The Amazon rainforest is sometimes characterized as the lungs of the planet. They contribute significantly to global climate patterns - particularly rain in the Northern Hemisphere. The lost of the rainforest, and the resulting desert, by itself will hasten global warming. The release of CO2 in this process (as with the peat bogs of the far north) are part of a feedback loop from the damage human emissions have caused.

It seems these feedback loops are causing a rapidly accelerated warming. How rapid remains to be seen. However, it is clear that action is needed now and not simply over the next decade.

3/22/05 Terra Daily, World's Largest Rainforest Drying Experiment Completes First Phase.