The ecosystem of the virgin tropical forests of Africa and the Amazon is getting worse and worse every year with the capture and processing of atmospheric carbon. This conclusion was reached by an international group of scientists from almost a hundred organizations, over the course of 30 years, monitoring the state of trees in the forests of these regions. It is reported by the journal Nature.

In the course of observations, experts examined 300 thousand trees in 565 forests. According to scientists, the negative consequences were mainly caused by the death of trees caused by fever, droughts, fires and direct human exposure. According to experts, over the past decades, the area of ​​pristine forests in Africa and the Amazon has decreased by 19%, while global emissions of carbon dioxide increased by 46%. As a result, man-made emissions are absorbed worse every year: while in the 1990s the forests of these regions absorbed 17% of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, in the 2010s only 6%.

It is worth noting that in the process of decomposition of tropical biomass, numerous bacteria and fungi themselves produce carbon dioxide. Tropical trees actively absorb it, since they need carbon in the gas as a "building" material - for growth. The death of trees leads to the fact that forests cease to cope with the purification of the atmosphere from carbon dioxide and, moreover, they themselves become its source, scientists say.

“The work showed that the peak of carbon uptake by virgin rainforests occurred in the 1990s. Our modeling indicates a diminished role for Africa as a carbon sink in the long run. In the meantime, the absorption capacity of Amazonia will continue to rapidly weaken. According to our forecasts, this region itself will become a source of carbon dioxide in the mid-2030s, ”said Dr. Vanes Hubau, director of research at the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium.

  • Tree measurements in the Peruvian part of Amazonia
  • © Roel Brienen, University of Leeds

Researchers recall that the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere negatively affects the climate.

Since the updated forecast is the most pessimistic of all that has been done previously, the authors of the study believe that it is necessary to conduct a global reassessment of carbon quotas and estimated indicators of carbon dioxide emissions.

“The immediate threat to the rainforests is deforestation, deforestation and fires. Urgent action is needed, ”said Simon Lewis, professor of geography at the University of Leeds, one of the authors of the study.