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When will the Amazon hit a tipping point?

Scientists say climate change, deforestation and fires could cause the world’s largest rainforest to dry out. The big question is how soon that might happen.
  1. Ignacio Amigo

    1. Ignacio Amigo is a science writer based in Manaus, Brazil.

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An aerial view of deforestation in the Amazon basin forest of Brazil.

Deforestation in Altamira, Pará state, Brazil. Credit: Joao Laet/AFP via Getty

Seen from a monitoring tower above the treetops near Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon, the rainforest canopy stretches to the horizon as an endless sea of green. It looks like a rich and healthy ecosystem, but appearances are deceiving. This rainforest — which holds 16,000 separate tree species — is slowly drying out.

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Nature 578, 505-507 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00508-4

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