Two new scientific review articles by international teams of researchers have painted a bleak picture of the state of the Amazon rainforest: The critical ecosystem is being damaged at an unprecedented pace, they warn, which may usher in ¡°a qualitatively different global climate regime¡± with grievous effects on biodiversity and human welfare.
The papers, both published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Thursday, summarize research on deforestation and landscape degradation in the Amazon to deliver a sharp message. The region that is key to the world¡¯s climate system ¡°is now perched to transition rapidly from a largely forested to a nonforested landscape,¡± write one set of authors, ¡°and the changes are happening much too rapidly for Amazonian species, peoples, and ecosystems to respond adaptively.¡±
The main culprits are human activities, such as logging and clearing forest for cattle pasture, and climate change.
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