Human activity and drought ‘degrading more than a third of Amazon rainforest’

Study suggests resilience of up to 2.5m square kilometers of the forest has been weakened

Human activity and drought may have degraded more than a third of the Amazon rainforest, double the previous estimate, according to a study that heightens concerns that the globally important ecosystem is slipping towards a point of no return.

Fires, land conversion, logging and water shortages, have weakened the resilience of up to 2.5m square kilometers of the forest, an area 10 times the size of the UK. This area is now drier, more flammable and more vulnerable than before, prompting the authors to warn of “megafires”in the future.