Amazon Tipping Point
Human-induced climate change, if left unchecked, may soon cause the Amazon to emit more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs. Scientists predict this change could occur as Amazonian forests become less able to absorb atmospheric carbon as climate warming slows down plant growth in the region and causes trees to die more rapidly.
Such was the case in 2005, when a prolonged drought in the Amazon released close to one billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more than it simultaneously removed through absorption.