Through photosynthesis, the rain forest absorbs 2 billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide each year. But the 2005 drought caused a massive die-off of trees and inverted the process. Like a vacuum cleaner expelling its dust, the Amazon released 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2005. All told, the drought caused an extra 5 billion tons of heat-trapping gases to end up in the atmosphere — more than the combined annual emissions of Europe and Japan.

It still remains to be seen whether the rain forest’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases has been permanently harmed. “We can’t say for sure — it could be happening now,” Phillips said. “Often you don’t know you’ve passed a turning point until you’ve already passed it.”

Oliver Phillips, a tropical ecology professor at the University of Leeds

I think were turning many corners in these and coming years. Back to nature is the only credible course for survival.

Sad to see, and agree with Jerry.

scary indeed.

Appreciate comments. We need a world wide fund for tree planting and sustainable farming practices. USD 100 bilion is a good starting figure. Hopefully, the COP16 Cancun meeting will accomplish a Carbon Credit scheme paid for by developed countries, so people in developing countries make money when they take care of the forest.

Something simpler the Clean Development Mechanism