Amazon rainforest stores carbon for the world, but this carbon sink is at risk, a study finds

The Amazon rainforest stores the equivalent of almost two years of global carbon emissions, but its role as a carbon sink is under threat, according to a study released Monday.

The U.S. nonprofit Amazon Conservation used satellite data provided by the Planet company to calculate how much climate-changing carbon the Amazon forest stores. An analysis of the data concluded that with deforestation there's a danger the Amazon could start contributing more carbon than it absorbs from the atmosphere.

Researchers found Amazon trees held 56.8 billion metric tons of carbon above ground in 2022. They said that’s 64.7 million metric tons more than in 2013, making the Amazon a carbon sink over the last decade.

But it´s now a “very small buffer,” according to an analysis by Planet. “There’s reason to worry that the biome could flip from sink to source with ongoing deforestation.”

Clearing vegetation eliminates trees that absorb carbon. Cutting and burning them puts more carbon into the atmosphere. And cleared land often is used for farming and livestock grazing that produce greenhouse gases.

David Lapola, a professor at the State University of Campinas who was not part of the study, told The Associated Press the findings are consistent with other studies.

While overall carbon absorption in the Amazon basin remains positive when considering only intact areas, the inclusion of forest degradation changes the picture, Lapola said.

However, he added that deforestation, which has destroyed roughly 20% of the Amazon, is an easier problem to solve than the impact of climate change on the rainforest, which is struggling with a severe drought for the second year in a row.

“It is crucial to turn our attention to how climate change and extreme weather events could alter the carbon sink in untouched forests," Lapola said. “This is considerably more difficult to address as it involves a concerted effort to reduce greenhouse emission.”