| Posted on February 4, 2011 at 10:31 AM | 
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The revelation yesterday that a drought in the Amazon caused the forest matter to release more carbon last year than the entire USA emitted from fossil fuel use in 2010 has reverberated across the media in recent days and rightly so.
The shocking findings illustrate that the Amazon, long seen as one of the planets most important carbon sinks was actually emitting carbon at massive levels due to the drought which caused vegetation in the area to die and decompose, releasing the gas back in to the atmosphere as a result.
This second ‘once-in-a-generation’ drought in 2010 followed on quickly from a similar event in 2005 and illustrated the fragility of our planet’s ability to handle carbon. The Amazon region has been calculated to absorb 1.5 billion tC per annum but the 2005 drought was measured to have caused 5 billion tC to have been emitted.
The findings illustrate the region’s susceptibility to climate change and the looming loss of one of the world’s most important carbon sponges and should once again bring the importance of climate change to the forefront of public consciousness once again.
The shocking findings illustrate that the Amazon, long seen as one of the planets most important carbon sinks was actually emitting carbon at massive levels due to the drought which caused vegetation in the area to die and decompose, releasing the gas back in to the atmosphere as a result.
This second ‘once-in-a-generation’ drought in 2010 followed on quickly from a similar event in 2005 and illustrated the fragility of our planet’s ability to handle carbon. The Amazon region has been calculated to absorb 1.5 billion tC per annum but the 2005 drought was measured to have caused 5 billion tC to have been emitted.
The findings illustrate the region’s susceptibility to climate change and the looming loss of one of the world’s most important carbon sponges and should once again bring the importance of climate change to the forefront of public consciousness once again.
