MAAP #148: Carbon loss & protection in the Peruvian Amazon
Tropical forests store massive amounts of carbon. However, when these forests are cleared (and often subsequently burned), the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, further driving global climate change. The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical forest, with Peru…
MAAP #144: The Amazon & Climate Change: Carbon Sink vs Carbon Source
A pair of recent scientific studies revealed that parts of the Amazon now emit more carbon into the atmosphere than they absorb (Gatti et al 2021, Harris et al 2021). Here, we dig deeper and highlight the key finding: the…
MAAP Synthesis #3: Deforestation in the Andean Amazon (Trends, Hotspots, Drivers)
MAAP, an initiative of the organization Amazon Conservation, uses cutting-edge satellite technology to monitor deforestation in near real-time in the megadiverse Andean Amazon (Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia). The monitoring is based on 5 satellite systems: Landsat (NASA/USGS), Sentinel (European…
MAAP #83: Climate Change Defense: Amazon Protected Areas and Indigenous Lands
Tropical forests, especially the Amazon, sequester huge amounts of carbon, one of the main greenhouse gases driving climate change. Here, we show the importance of protected areas and indigenous lands to safeguard these carbon stocks. In MAAP #81, we estimated…
MAAP #81: Carbon loss from deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon
When tropical forests are cleared, the enormous amount of carbon stored in the trees is released to the atmosphere, making it a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) that drive climate change. In fact, a recent study revealed…