Amazon Rainforest Now Emits More Carbon Dioxide Than It Absorbs, Study Finds

The researchers conclude that human land use is crucial to the carbon balance. The findings should guide policymakers and conservationists, as well as climate scientists and biologists, says Jen Johnson, a professor and co-author of the study.

“There is a very concrete and important opportunity to manage the Amazon’s carbon budget. It is not beyond our control because it is driven by global climate factors; it is something that is very much within the control of governments and individuals,” she says in a press release.

The study, led by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, is published in Nature.