Area In Amazon Basin 2X Size Of California Facing Climate-Induced Megadroughts - JPL/NASA
An area in the Amazon twice the size of California is experiencing what scientists call a "megadrought." The prolonged drought, which began in 2005, has caused widespread damage to the area and may possibly be a sign that the rainforest is showing the first signs of large-scale degradation due to climate change. A research team, led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, analyzed nearly a decade of satellite data over the Amazon. The team looked at rainfall measurements and the moisture content of the forest canopy.
The most striking data came from the summer of 2005, when 270,000 square miles of forest experienced a severe drought that caused widespread, observable damage to the canopy. The drought conditions were so severe that the rainforest was unable to fully recover before the next drought struck in 2010.
"The biggest surprise for us was that the effects appeared to persist for years after the 2005 drought," Yadvinder Malhi of Oxford University and co-author of the study said in a press release. "We had expected the forest canopy to bounce back after a year with a new flush of leaf growth, but the damage appeared to persist right up to the subsequent drought in 2010."
The two extensive droughts - called a "double whammy" by one researcher - could mean the region, known as Amazonia, will suffer long-lasting damage. It is also more evidence for the increasingly clear fact that the Amazon is receiving less and less rainfall per year.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57564795/severe-droughts-in-amazon-linked-to-climate-change-says-study/