New research shows that convective storms are accelerating carbon turnover in the Amazon rainforest more than droughts. These extreme weather events kill trees and release stored carbon back into the atmosphere faster than previously modeled. This shift reduces the carbon residence time of the forest, weakening its ability to act as a long term climate buffer. High emissions scenarios could lead to a 15 percent decline in how long carbon remains locked in vegetation by the end of the century.
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This is a major red flag for carbon accounting. If models only track absorption and ignore the turnover rate caused by storms, the actual net sink value is likely overstated. We need updated reporting standards that account for this instability.
Exactly. It is like counting deposits in a bank account but ignoring the automatic withdrawals. If the residence time drops, the long term value of these nature based offsets becomes a lot more questionable.
The 15 percent decline in turnover time for high emissions scenarios is a heavy hit. I wonder if the study breaks down which specific regions of the Amazon are hitting this tipping point first or if it is uniform.
The article mentions the spatial picture is uneven and nonlinear. Some areas are way more vulnerable than others, which makes broad regional averages pretty misleading for actual risk assessment.
