Tipping Point in the Amazon Rainforest

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By evaporating vast amounts of water, the Amazon rainforest sustains itself. This is why the forest is at risk when agricultural land and livestock farming expand at the expense of forested areas, or when global warming causes droughts and heatwaves in the Amazon basin. Both drivers land-use change and climate change have already caused increasing damage in the past. However, until now there have been no clear conclusions about how these two factors interact, and above all how forest areas may develop in the future—potentially reaching a “tipping point” of irreversible damage.

A new LMU study estimates that land-use change combined with climate warming could lead to the loss of up to 38 percent of the Amazon rainforest by the end of the 21st century. This would reach the critical threshold of 20 to 25 percent that earlier studies have identified as a tipping point for the Amazon rainforest. LMU-News explains the findings of the study, which has received widespread media attention, including coverage by:

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