Wildfires could flip parts of the Amazon from a carbon sponge to a source by 2050
A double whammy of climate change and deforestation could double the area burned by wildfires in the southern Brazilian Amazon forest, simulations suggest. That increase in fires could burn up to 16 percent of the region by 2050 and release enough carbon dioxide to flip parts of the forest from carbon dioxide sponge to source — exacerbating greenhouse gas warming rather than combating it. Avoiding new deforestation, however, could slow or prevent that transition, researchers report January 10 in Science Advances. Scientists previously have warned that these two effects — climate change and deforestation — may already be drying out parts of the Amazon, reducing its ability to soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide and making it more susceptible to wildfires (SN: 8/23/19). How the wildfires themselves might exacerbate the problem and increase emissions isn’t usually included in climate simulations. But the blazes play a role: Combusting trees and underbrush releases CO2 directly to the atmosphere. And the heat-driven breakdown of plant matter can add...