The Amazon rainforest is facing a severe crisis with record-breaking wildfires and drought impacting its delicate ecosystem. Experts warn that the region is nearing a critical tipping point, threatening its ability to absorb carbon dioxide and regulate global climate.
The Amazon, sometimes called the 'lungs of the planet,' this year showed signs of further inching toward a much-feared tipping point, threatening the very existence of the world's largest rainforest. Rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaged large parts of the Amazon in 2024. The fires and dry conditions were fueled by deforestation and the El Niño weather pattern, and also made worse by climate change , according to the World Economic Forum.
'The number of fires reached its highest level in 14 years this September,' the group reported in October. Drought has also impacted the Amazon River, causing one of the river's main tributaries to drop to its lowest level ever recorded, according to October reporting from The Associated Press. The drop in the river has negatively impacted local economies and food supplies. Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, told the AP last week that the fires and droughts experienced across the Amazon in 2024 'could be ominous indicators that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point. 'Humanity's window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but still open,' he said. The Amazon plays a vital role in keeping the planet healthy. 150-200 billion tons of carbon are stored in the Amazon, and it also carries 20% of the earth's fresh water to sea. According to the World Economic Forum, if the Amazon tipping point is reached, 'it will release billions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere through fires and plants dying off. This would further exacerbate climate change and make the 1.5°C goal impossible to achieve. It would also alter weather patterns, which would impact agricultural productivity and global food supplies.' A paper published in the journal Nature in February indicates that up to half of the rainforest could hit a tipping point by the middle of the century
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