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Nov 30, In addition, forests absorb and store carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere- CO2 that is released back into the atmosphere when trees are cut and burned. Nobre warns that if deforestation continues at current levels, we are headed for disaster. The Amazon region could become drier and drier, unable to support healthy habitats or bushdig.barted Reading Time: 7 mins.

Aug 04, Trees in the Amazon make their own rain. By Ilima Loomis Aug. 4,PM. The Amazon rainforest is home to strange weather. One peculiarity Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins.

Nov 21, Editor’s Note: This story is the second part in a series. Please read part 1, part 3, and part 4 for a more complete picture of Amazon deforestation.

The area was originally targeted for federal colonization, which gave rise to fishbone deforestation south of the river upper left of first image.

For as long as people have inhabited the Amazon rainforest, they have left a mark on the landscape. But never have humans changed the rainforest as dramatically as they have in recent decades.

This pattern follows one of the most common deforestation trajectories in the Amazon. Legal and illegal roads penetrate a remote part of the forest, and small farmers migrate to the area. They claim land along the road and clear some of it for crops.

The estimated change in forested area between and is shown in this map above based on vegetation index data from MODIS.

Within a few years. The carbon dioxide factor There are concerns that the Amazon region could become a net source rather than a sink (storage) of carbon dioxide (CO 2), a gas emitted mainly from burning fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas - and the major driver for global climate change. Currently, the Amazon rainforests are still a sink for CO 2, despite some 20% of CO 2 emissions globally arising from.