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Amazon Rainforest Could be Gone Within a Lifetime

posted by Fnord666 on Friday March 13 2020, @03:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-forest-of-a-lifetime dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Large ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, will collapse and disappear alarmingly quickly, once a crucial tipping point is reached, according to calculations based on real-world data.

Writing in Nature Communications, researchers from Bangor University, Southampton University and The School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, reveal the speed at which ecosystems of different sizes will disappear, once they have reached a point beyond which they collapse -- transforming into an alternative ecosystem.

For example, once the 'point of no return' is reached, the iconic Amazon rainforest could shift to a savannah-type ecosystem with a mix of trees and grass within 50 years, according to the work.

Some scientists argue that many ecosystems are currently teetering on the edge of this precipice, with the fires and destruction both in the Amazon and in Australia.

"Unfortunately, what our paper reveals is that humanity needs to prepare for changes far sooner than expected," says joint lead author Dr Simon Willcock of Bangor University's School of Natural Sciences.

"These rapid changes to the world's largest and most iconic ecosystems would impact the benefits which they provide us with, including everything from food and materials, to the oxygen and water we need for life."

-- submitted from IRC

Gregory S. Cooper, Simon Willcock & John A. Dearing. Regime shifts occur disproportionately faster in larger ecosystems. Nature Communications, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15029-x

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 13 2020, @07:10PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 13 2020, @07:10PM (#970831)

    Because you are more qualified than the entire scientific community (besides those handful of shills that get their money from folks like Exon Mobile).

    Sure thing, whatever you say.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 13 2020, @07:57PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 13 2020, @07:57PM (#970838) Journal
    What does the entire scientific community have to do with this study? A better rebuttal would be that current human presence is more than an order of magnitude larger, and it's heavily industrialized to boot. Meaning a far greater environmental perturbation and higher risk of hitting a tipping point.

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday March 14 2020, @11:53AM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday March 14 2020, @11:53AM (#971149) Journal

    I cited scientific researchers who have found evidence the Amazon was heavily populated before and much more deforested than it is now.

    You cited...nothing.

    I provided multiple links, with a limited claim.

    You gave an expansive, insulting dismissal and backed it up with nothing.

    Sure thing, whatever you say.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.