The Amazon rainforest may be nearing a tipping point of dieback, the point where rainforest will turn to savanna, a new study shows.
Using satellite remote sensing data, researchers found what they call "Resilience" - the ability to recover from events such as droughts or fires - has declined consistently in the vast majority of the Amazon rainforest.
Overall, the Amazon rainforest is becoming much less resilient - raising the risk of widespread dieback, the research shows.
"The Amazon rainforest is a highly complex system, so it's very difficult to predict if and when a tipping point could be reached," said study lead author Chris Boulton, also of the University of Exeter.
"Many interlinked factors - including droughts, fires, deforestation, degradation and climate change - could combine to reduce resilience and trigger the crossing of a tipping point in the Amazon." Tropical forests such as the Amazon play a crucial role in climate regulation, experts say.
The Amazon rainforest is biologically the richest region on Earth, hosting about 25% of global biodiversity, and it is a major contributor to the natural cycles required for the functioning of the planet, according to the environmental group Panthera.
"The Amazon is the largest tract of continuous rainforest on the planet, and it plays a critical role in the climate system," Laura Schneider, a geographer at Rutgers University, said in 2019, when devastating wildfires were scorching the forest.
