{"id":7670,"date":"2023-07-18T21:48:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T18:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/?p=7670"},"modified":"2023-07-18T21:49:16","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T18:49:16","slug":"climate-change-and-moisture-recycling-in-the-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/climate-change-and-moisture-recycling-in-the-amazon","title":{"rendered":"Climate change and moisture recycling in the Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"bulletpoints\">\n<ul>\n<li><em>Mongabay is publishing a new edition of the book, \u201cA Perfect Storm in the Amazon,\u201d in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the <a title=\"Unlocking Opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean through Biodiversity Conservation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/unlocking-opportunities-for-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-through-biodiversity-conservation\">conservation of the region\u2019s biodiversity<\/a>, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>This is part of chapter 1 of \u201cA Perfect Storm in the Amazon,\u201d see the bottom of this page for links to all the excerpts.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Starting in the 1990s, <a title=\"Ecosystems and Conservation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/ecosystems-and-conservation\">ecosystem<\/a> ecologists and atmospheric scientists in the Brazilian space agency embarked on a sophisticated collaboration with NASA and other international research institutions; their goal was to understand and model the interactions between the atmosphere, the ocean and the forest ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>They collected <a title=\"Spatial Data Scientist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/spatial-data-scientist\">data<\/a> using instruments mounted on satellites, airborne platforms and canopy towers, a collaboration that discovered how cyclical anomalies in ocean temperatures, such as El Ni\u00f1o\/La Ni\u00f1a, drive the decadal-scale droughts and floods that impact the Amazon. Their most <a title=\"Why Tropical Forests Are Important for Our Well-Being\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/why-tropical-forests-are-important-for-our-well-being\">important finding was to elucidate how tropical forests<\/a> recycle water between the surface and the upper troposphere via a process known as \u2018deep convection\u2019; sometimes referred to as a \u2018biotic pump\u2019; this natural system maintains the high precipitation that defines the Amazon rainforest.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_269973\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-269973 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19164539\/Figure-1_7.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1619px) 100vw, 1619px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19164539\/Figure-1_7.jpg 1619w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19164539\/Figure-1_7-768x852.jpg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19164539\/Figure-1_7-1384x1536.jpg 1384w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19164539\/Figure-1_7-610x677.jpg 610w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1619\" height=\"1797\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>The South American Monsoon is established and controlled by the rotation of the Earth, the seasonal shift of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the height of the Andes, and atmospheric pressure gradients driven by temperature differences across the South American land mass. Data source: Marwan, N. and J. Kurths. 2015. \u2018Complex network based techniques to identify <a title=\"Extreme weather events abound, leaving no escape from climate change\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/extreme-weather-events-abound-leaving-no-escape-from-climate-change\">extreme events<\/a> and (sudden) transitions in spatio-temporal systems\u2019. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science 25 (9): 097609.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The impacts of deforestation, forest fragmentation and forest <a title=\"Reversing Environmental Degradation in Africa and Asia \u2014 Project Grants\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/reversing-environmental-degradation-in-africa-and-asia-project-grants\">degradation<\/a> are all weakening water recycling, and this is enhancing the intensity and frequency of seasonal and interannual drought. The risk is particularly acute in the Southern Amazon, a <a title=\"Funding for Climate or Clean Energy Projects\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/funding-for-climate-or-clean-energy-projects-3\">climatic<\/a> transition zone where subtle shifts in ecological succession can determine whether a landscape is dominated by forest or savanna species. When and if a forest <a title=\"Community rights and REDD+ in Indonesia\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/community-rights-and-redd-in-indonesia\">community<\/a> is established, feedback mechanisms will reinforce the biotic pump, which favors an equilibrium state that supports the maintenance of rainforest. A rapid transition to a non-forest equilibrium can occur if a key environmental factor, such as drought, <a title=\"Wildfire risk goes up where trees and shrubs replace grasses\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/wildfire-risk-goes-up-where-trees-and-shrubs-replace-grasses\">wildfire<\/a> or logging, passes a threshold that alters the microclimate that favors forest species. When that occurs, rainforest <a title=\"What we owe our trees\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/what-we-owe-our-trees\">trees<\/a> suffer high rates of mortality and are replaced by species adapted to open savanna-like conditions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_269974\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-269974\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19165101\/9_NASA_EOS_ISS029-e-8032-xingu-fire.jpeg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19165101\/9_NASA_EOS_ISS029-e-8032-xingu-fire.jpeg 1440w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19165101\/9_NASA_EOS_ISS029-e-8032-xingu-fire-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19165101\/9_NASA_EOS_ISS029-e-8032-xingu-fire-1200x800.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/19165101\/9_NASA_EOS_ISS029-e-8032-xingu-fire-610x407.jpeg 610w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"960\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Wildfires typically start when landholders burn pasture to renew forage or clear forest to establish new fields; <a title=\"Integrated Fire Management Guidelines for Tanzania\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/integrated-fire-management-guidelines-for-tanzania\">managed fire<\/a> often spreads into adjacent natural forest and, during drought years, can damage millions of hectares of primary forest habitat. This photograph of <a title=\"Extreme wildfires are turning the world\u2019s largest forest ecosystem from carbon sink into net-emitter\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/extreme-wildfires-are-turning-the-worlds-largest-forest-ecosystem-from-carbon-sink-into-net-emitter\">wildfires<\/a> along the R\u00edo Xingu was taken by astronauts from the International Space Station in 2011. NASA Earth Observatory, https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/71256\/fires-along-the-rio-xingu-brazil<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a title=\"Funding: Climate-resilient Action in African Countries\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/funding-climate-resilient-action-in-african-countries\">Climate<\/a> models show that drought in the Amazon will become both more frequent and intense, while higher temperatures increase stress on tropical trees. There is increasing concern that the Southern Amazon could suffer from two or more consecutive years of drought, which could trigger a large-scale forest dieback of cataclysmic proportions. Known as the \u2018tipping point hypothesis\u2019, it is a clarion call of the dangers from uncontrolled <a title=\"Invasive moths, beetles putting local forests at risk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/invasive-moths-beetles-putting-local-forests-at-risk\">deforestation<\/a>, illegal logging and the indiscriminate use of fire by small farmers and ranchers. The impact of a collapsing forest ecosystem would extend well beyond the <a title=\"Why mitigating biodiversity loss matters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/why-mitigating-biodiversity-loss-matters\">loss of biodiversity<\/a> in the remnant forest of the Southern Amazon because it would signal a dramatic reduction in rainfall across the region \u2013 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>The most economically significant discovery of recent years grew out of a collaboration between meteorological agencies to integrate the subregional manifestations of the annual wet and dry seasons into a common continental-scale <a title=\"Funding for Climate or Clean Energy Projects\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/funding-for-climate-or-clean-energy-projects-3\">climate<\/a> system. Christened the South American Monsoon (SAM), it mediates the flow of <a title=\"Water, Climate, and Biodiversity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/water-climate-and-biodiversity\">water<\/a> from the Atlantic Ocean westward across the Amazon, south along the base of the Andes and, eventually, southeast into the subtropical landscapes of Bolivia, Paraguay, Central Brazil and Northern Argentina. The combination of the water recycling driven by deep convection within the Amazon and the distribution of water across the continent by the SAM directly links the productivity of one of the planet\u2019s most important bread baskets \u2013 and the economic health of four nations \u2013 with the <a title=\"Science Communication Course\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/science-communication-course\">conservation<\/a> of the Amazon rain forest.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cA Perfect Storm in the Amazon\u201d is a book by Timothy Killeen and contains the author\u2019s viewpoints and analysis. The second edition was published by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whpress.co.uk\/publications\/2021\/04\/22\/a-perfect-storm-in-the-amazon-wilderness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">The White Horse<\/a>\u00a0in 2021, under the terms of a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0 license).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Read the other excerpted portions of chapter 1 here:<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"custom_post_widget-269303\" class=\"content_block\">\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/05\/29010850\/heading-photo-by-George-Amaro-detail-r-abridora.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-269135\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/05\/29010850\/heading-photo-by-George-Amaro-detail-r-abridora.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1210px) 100vw, 1210px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/05\/29010850\/heading-photo-by-George-Amaro-detail-r-abridora.jpg 1210w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/05\/29010850\/heading-photo-by-George-Amaro-detail-r-abridora-768x286.jpg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/05\/29010850\/heading-photo-by-George-Amaro-detail-r-abridora-610x227.jpg 610w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1210\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><strong>Chapter 1. The state of the Amazon<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/05\/the-state-of-the-amazon-chapter-1-of-a-perfect-storm\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">The state of the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0May 31, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/drivers-of-environmental-degradation-in-the-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Drivers of environmental degradation in the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 1, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/the-geography-of-environmental-degradation-in-the-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">The geography of environmental degradation in the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 7, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/the-political-economy-of-the-pan-amazon-2\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">The political economy of the Pan Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 8, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/understanding-the-conventional-economy-of-the-pan-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Understanding the conventional economy of the Pan Amazon\u00a0<\/a>June 13, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/the-natural-history-of-the-amazon-rainforest\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">The natural history of the Amazon Rainforest<\/a>\u00a0June 14, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/forest-ecology-and-carbon-dynamics-in-the-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Forest ecology and carbon dynamics in the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 20, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/climate-change-and-moisture-recycling-in-the-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Climate change and moisture recycling in the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 22, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/environmental-policy-and-action-on-the-ground-in-the-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Environmental policy and action on the ground in the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 27, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/environmental-governance-in-the-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Environmental governance in the Amazon<\/a>\u00a0June 28,2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/06\/the-largest-land-set-aside-in-history\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">The largest land set-aside in history<\/a>\u00a0June 29, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/07\/an-indigenous-revival-in-the-pan-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">An Indigenous revival in the Pan Amazon<\/a>\u00a0July 6,2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/07\/monetizing-or-not-the-value-of-ecosystem-services-in-the-amazon\/?preview_id=270491&amp;preview_nonce=321837a674&amp;post_format=standard&amp;_thumbnail_id=270495&amp;preview=true\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Monetizing nature: The under-explored power of the Amazon\u2019s natural capital<\/a>\u00a0July 7, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/the%20challenge%20of%20the%20future%20%28and%20lessons%20from%20the%20recent%20past%29%20in%20the%20pan%20amazon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">The challenge of the future (and lessons from the recent past) in the Pan Amazon<\/a>\u00a0July 12, 2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/07\/current-policy-approaches-in-the-amazon-certainly-necessary-but-are-they-sufficient\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Current policy approaches in the Amazon: certainly necessary, but are they sufficient?<\/a>\u00a0July 13, 2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"single-article-footer\">\n<div id=\"single-article-meta\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mongabay is publishing a new edition of the book, \u201cA Perfect Storm in the Amazon,\u201d in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese. Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7680,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions\/7680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}