CRISISBOOM

For the first time ever, scientists have discovered direct evidence of the rate at which individual trees in the Amazon rainforest “inhale” carbon from the atmosphere during a severe drought. The findings could be huge when it comes to calculating how much these forests contribute to carbon capture and storage in the future.

Scientists have long suspected that drought influences how much carbon trees manage to capture and store. The extent of that influence has long remained a mystery-until now. Scientists measured the growth and photosynthesis rates of trees at 13 rainforest plots across Brazil, Peru and Bolivia, comparing plots that were affected by the strong drought of 2010 with unaffected plots.

Each of the plots contained between 400 to 500 trees. In addition, the rainforest plots that were chosen were

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