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Relevance: GS-III (Environment & Ecology) | Source: The Hindu

The Context: Long called the “lungs of the planet,” the Amazon rainforest has crossed a dangerous tipping point. A major study (2010–2024) shows that the world’s largest tropical forest now releases more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air than it absorbs—driven by heavy logging, mining, and man-made forest fires.

1. Key Findings: The Amazon Forests to a Net Emitter

  • Sink to Source: Aircraft air-sampling between 2010 and 2024 confirmed that the Amazon is now a net carbon source—meaning we can no longer count on it to soak up human pollution.
  • The Fire Factor: Deliberate land-clearing fires, worsened by severe droughts, caused the forest to release 1.17 billion metric tonnes more carbon than its trees could absorb.
  • Drying Loop (“Savannization”): Healthy rainforests make their own rain through plant moisture (evapotranspiration). Tree loss cut dry-season rainfall by 17% and raised local temperatures by 0.9°C (1979–2018), turning lush jungle into dry, fire-prone savannah.

2. What’s Driving the Destruction?

  • Mining & Farming Boom: Between 2010 and 2024, mining sites jumped by 272%, soybean plantations grew by 193%, and cattle ranches expanded by 19% across the basin.
  • Global Stakes: Spread across 9 South American nations (60% in Brazil), the Amazon stores ~100 billion tonnes of carbon and shelters 10% of the world’s known wildlife species.

3. Contrast: India’s Growing Carbon Sinks

  • CO2 Fertilization Effect: Unlike the Amazon, studies project India’s plant carbon storage could nearly double by 2100, as extra atmospheric CO2 and stronger monsoon rains speed up photosynthesis and greening.
  • Dryland Greening: Surprisingly, the biggest jump in green cover and carbon capture is projected in dry and semi-arid states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh rather than wet rainforests.

Value Box: Key Climate Concepts & Frameworks
Carbon Sink vs. Source A carbon sink (healthy forests, oceans, soil, mangroves) absorbs more carbon than it releases. A carbon source releases more carbon than it absorbs, speeding up global warming.
UNFCCC REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (+) is a UN climate framework (Warsaw Framework, COP19) that pays developing countries to protect and regrow their standing forests.
India’s Paris NDC Target Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, India pledged to create an extra carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 through new forest and tree cover (Green India Mission).

Practice MCQ

Q. Consider the following statements regarding forest carbon dynamics:

  1. Recent atmospheric studies show that parts of the Amazon rainforest have flipped from a carbon sink into a net carbon source due to deforestation, droughts, and fires.
  2. Under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), India has committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only     (b) 2 only     (c) Both 1 and 2     (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Hint: Both statements are correct. Heavy logging, mining, and fires have turned the Amazon into a net carbon emitter, while India’s Paris Agreement NDC commits to adding 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in forest and tree cover by 2030.
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