Analysis shows droughts shut down Amazon carbon sink
JUL 26, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029975
BBC : The Amazon basin is one of the world’s largest carbon reservoirs, with the plants there holding roughly 17% of Earth’s vegetation-stored carbon. A new study has revealed, however, that two recent droughts have adversely affected the basin’s ability to absorb carbon. According to coauthor Ted Feldpausch of the University of Exeter, UK, during one of the droughts, in 2010, the rate of vegetation mortality increased and the growth rate slowed, which resulted in the region releasing more carbon than it was taking in. In nondrought years, the region absorbs hundreds of millions more tons of carbon than it loses.
© 2016. American Institute of Physics