Skip to main content
Amazon rainforest's role as carbon sink now in danger, new study warns
Workers stand atop a tower that will spray carbon dioxide into the rainforest north of Manaus, Brazil, May 23, 2023

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 new study.

Following an analysis of satellite data provided by the Planet company, the US-based Amazon Conservation Association has concluded that, with deforestation, the rainforest 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. That is 64.7 million metric tons more than in 2013, they said, making the Amazon a carbon sink over the last decade.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
ADAPT NOT REPLACE: Ger districts against a backdrop of new high-rise buildings in Ulaanbaatar / Pic: Bearded/Newspaper ‘Number One’/CC
Science and Society / 25 March 2026
25 March 2026

Coal-fired stoves in traditional homes are the primary source of extreme levels of air pollution in over-crowded Ulaanbaatar. As more people become climate-displaced, the situation is likely to worsen, write SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

climate
Book Review / 19 December 2025
19 December 2025

IAN SINCLAIR recommends an important and timely book for climate politics right now and in the future

Erhai lake
Climate Crisis / 9 October 2025
9 October 2025

One of the major criticisms of China’s breakneck development in recent decades has been the impact on nature — returning after 15 years away, BEN CHACKO assessed whether the government’s recent turn to environmentalism has yielded results