Climate change greatly favored the devastating drought that hit the Amazon in 2023one of the most important ecosystems in the world to stabilize the global climate, threatened by global warming.
That historic drought, between June and November 2023, It affected millions of people throughout the Amazon basin, fueling enormous forest fires, causing major waterways to shrink, and wreaking havoc on wildlife.
The study revealed on how climate change affected the Amazon
Some experts had pointed out that this phenomenon could due to the arrival of the El Niño meteorological episode, But a new study by scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), published on Wednesday, notes that Climate change caused by air pollution was the main culprit.
According to them, the cglobal warming made drought 30 times more likely and they warned that situation will worsen as the planet warms, pushing the Amazon toward a climate “tipping point.”
What could happen if the drought and temperatures continue to rise in the Amazon
Yeah drought and temperatures intensify increase in the Amazon, it could produce an accelerated transition from rainforest to savannahwhich would reduce its carbon storage capacity, experts pointed out.
It is estimated that the Amazon can store more than 100 billion tons of carbon, that is, more than double the annual emissions.
“If we allow human-made emissions and deforestation exceed the tipping point, large amounts of carbon dioxide will be released and our fight against climate change will become even more complicated,” he warned. Regina Rodrigues, professor of Physical and Climate Oceanography at the Federal University of Santa Catarinain Brazil.
The comparison made by scientists about climate change
The scientists compared the current climate -which covers an approximate temperature increase of 1.2 ºC since the pre-industrial era– with the situation prior to climate change. Thus, they found that the global warming It increased the probability of low rainfall by 10 and the probability of drought by 30.
At the moment, drought only occurs once every 50 years But with a warming of 2ºC, the Amazon would suffer this type of episode approximately every 13 years, according to scientists.
Source: Ambito
