Roel Brienen, a geography research fellow at the United Kingdom’s University of Leeds, was the lead author of the recent paper “Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink,” published March 19 in the journal Nature. (See EcoAméricas March 2015, p. 11). The 30-year study concluded that the rainforest is losing its capacity to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The Amazon forest as a mature woodland might be expected to be carbon-neutral, absorbing as much carbon dioxide as it produces. But it has been known for some time to act as a vast sponge for atmospheric carbon. As its trees have been growing more quickly than they have been dying, the forest until recently has each year absorbed almost two billion more metric tons of carbon dioxide than it has released, thus serving as a modest brake on global warming. But according to this study, the forest has begun to stop performing this important function. Brienen was interviewed for EcoAméricas by Sue Branford. [Log in to read more]

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