“Amazon near tipping point of shifting from rainforest to savannah, study suggests”
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/07/americas/amazon-tipping-point-climate-scn/
The Amazon rainforest may be nearing a critical tipping point that could see the biologically rich and diverse ecosystem transformed into a grassy savannah.
“Part of the Amazon is emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs — and it’s a “really big warning” for the planet”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-rainforest-carbon-dioxide-emissions-climate-change/
The Amazon rainforest has played a critical role in the fight against climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. But a study published in Nature on Wednesday found that humans are threatening its ability to do so — which could have devastating consequences for the planet.
“Climate crisis: Tropical rainforest ‘tipping point’ identified as scientists call for immediate action to tackle global warming”
Tropical rainforests’ vital ability to store carbon is under threat due to rising global temperatures, and the Amazon is particularly at risk, scientists have warned.
Calling for “immediate steps” to conserve forests and stabilise the global climate, the authors of a study based on research from 600 sites around the world said that beyond a maximum daily temperature of 32.2C, trees get too hot and dry, causing them to die and release their stores of carbon.
“These tiny ‘guardians’ are helping protect the world’s forests”
Consisting of smartphones tethered to solar panels, the devices — nicknamed “Guardians” — listen in on animal calls, wind, rain, and other ambient sounds and continuously transmit the audio to the cloud, where they’re analyzed by machine-learning algorithms similar to those police use to detect gunshots in urban areas.
“The WWF warns the Amazon could lose half its wildlife by the end of the century”
The Amazon, the single largest tropical rainforest and home to 10% of the world’s known species, could lose half of its plants and animals by the end of the century as global warming ravages the planet—and that loss of biodiversity is just a snapshot of what’s happening to the world’s forests, wetlands, and seas.
“Why Amazonian Forest Peoples Are ‘Counter-Mapping’ Their Ancestral Lands”
During a late 19th-century rubber boom, Amazonia became increasingly well mapped out as the young nations of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia vied for territorial control. The rights and interests of Amazonian peoples were never included in this process and they would be continually denied rights, recognition and citizenship from these nations until the 1980s and 1990s. Even following legal recognition, their territorial rights – critical for their continued existence – are still often ignored in practice.
“Alarm as study reveals world’s tropical forests are huge carbon emission source”
The world’s tropical forests are so degraded they have become a source rather than a sink of carbon emissions, according to a new study that highlights the urgent need to protect and restore the Amazon and similar regions.
Brazil opens vast Amazon reserve to mining
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-41033228?mc_cid=5850d6165f&mc_eid=eaaa9fef29
Brazil’s government has abolished a vast national reserve in the Amazon to open up the area to mining.
“Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth’s wilderness in 25 years – study”
Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth’s remaining wilderness in the last 25 years and there may be none left within a century if trends continue, according to an authoritative new study.
Researchers found a vast area the size of two Alaskas – 3.3m square kilometres – had been tarnished by human activities between 1993 and today, which experts said was a “shockingly bad” and “profoundly large number.”
“Cattle Grazing Is Now Causing Massive Deforestation Hotspots In The Peruvian Amazon”
Deforestation in the Amazon has been a growing problem over the past five decades, with ranchers leading the way in clearing rainforest for cattle and cultivation. But while Brazil, the largest country in South America, seems on track to reduce deforestation, other major Amazonian countries like Peru are increasingly struggling to protect their share of the world’s largest rainforest.
My Trip To The Amazon 
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