The Amazon’s emissions amount to one billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to the researchers. The research was published in scientific journal Nature.
No more buffer for CO2
Previously, the rainforest functioned as a kind of sponge for emissions caused by the climate crisis, but now, according to the researchers, the rainforest itself contributes to the acceleration of that climate crisis.
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Most of the emissions from the rainforest are caused by fires. These fires are often lit to make room for the production of soy and meat.
“The bad news is that burning forests produces three times more CO2 than the forest absorbs,” study leader Luciana Gatti of the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil told the newspaper. Guardian.
But even without the emissions from the fires, the Amazon produces emissions, according to the study. With small planes CO2 emissions were even measured at 45,000 meters above the trees.
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Record deforestation is expected in the Amazon this year. Last May, more than 1,100 square kilometers of forest were cleared. That is an area the size of the IJsselmeer.
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