Human activity and drought may have degraded more than one-third of the Amazon rainforest, twice as much as previous estimates, according to research published in Science, adding to concerns that the world’s important ecosystem is heading towards a “point of no return.” road” concerns. Fire, land conversion, logging and water scarcity have reduced the resilience of up to 2.5 million square kilometers of forest, which accounts for 38% of the Amazon’s remaining forest area and is 10 times the size of the United Kingdom. The region is now drier, more flammable and more fragile than before, with researchers warning of the potential for “megafires” in the future. The findings are the result of an analytical review of previously published scientific data based on satellite imagery and a synthesis of published data from the Amazon region between 2001 and 2018.
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