Great news: “Long-term fate of tropical forests may not be so dire,” recent studies suggest
“Long-term fate of tropical forests may not be so dire,” recent studies suggest – Source: Philip Taylor/ colorado.edu
After years of believing that the Earth’s tropical forests were drowning in water, researchers have turned that assumption on its head. An unprecedented review of data from 150 forests has shown the opposite: our tropical forests are, in fact, flourishing.
Tropical forests are often dubbed the “lungs of the Earth” for a reason: they essentially ‘inhale’ CO2 and ‘exhale’ oxygen. They soak up 15% of the CO2 released by fossil fuels globally, every year. Therefore, tropical forests are of paramount importance when it comes to alleviating the global effects of climate change.
For decades, scientists have believed that tropical forests will eventually start to drown out and essentially die, due to the excessive rainfalls caused by climate changes.
However, an unprecedented research conducted by Phillip Taylor, a research associate with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), indicates the exact opposite of what was common belief up until now.
Phillip Taylor spent four years studying the growth of tropical forests in 42 countries. According to his groundbreaking findings, some of the most plentiful tropical forests in the world are receiving over 16 feet of rain per year – twice as much as scientists believed would prove detrimental for their development.
“Our data suggest that as large-scale climate patterns shift in the tropics, and some places get wetter and warmer, forests will accelerate their growth, which is good for taking carbon out of the atmosphere,” Philip Taylor, a research associate with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), said.
“In some ways, this is a good-news story, because we can expect greater CO2 uptake in tropical regions where rainfall is expected to increase. But there are a lot of caveats.”
The conclusions that lie ahead still need to be worked out. However, according to the recent studies, it appears that rain forests respond to changes in rainfall differently than what has been a common belief for a long time.
“The old model was formed with a lack of data from warm tropical forests. It turns out that in the big tropical forests that do the vast majority of the ‘breathing’ the situation is flipped. Instead of water slowing growth down, it accelerates it,” Taylor said.
Although Taylor says that there are still a number of caveats which concern the positive effects of climate change on rain forests, his findings have provided hopeful prospects for future eco-studies.
“Our findings fundamentally change a view of the tropical forest carbon cycle that has been published in textbooks and incorporated into models of future climate change for years,” Taylor said.
“Given how much these forests matter to the climate, these new relationships need to be a part of future climate assessments.”
