Thursday, February 10, 2011

Amazon Drought; Is anyone else bothered by this?

Is anyone else bothered by this?

In the last few years, more and more climate scientists warn us over and over not to confuse weather with climate. We all are well aware that the rain forest of the Amazon basin is the heart and lungs of the planet.My question is: do we observe the warning first, or think ahead and plan possible actions first? Twice in five years the Amazon is in drought. It seems to me this goes beyond weather. This article from Leeds seems not to have shown up on the radar. Why? I really would be interested in any ideas I could generate here. I am going to do my level best to get this story out if I can. Feel free to link to my site and spread it as far as you can.

Thanks

Jeff

Analyses of rainfall across 5.3 million square kilometres of Amazonia during the 2010 dry season, published in Science, shows that the drought was more widespread and severe than in 2005.Dr Lewis added: "Two unusual and extreme droughts occurring within a decade may largely offset the carbon absorbed by intact Amazon forests during that time...... New research shows that the 2010 Amazon drought may have been even more devastating to the region’s rainforests than the unusual 2005 drought, which was previously billed as a one-in-100 year event. Use link to view full story