New study debunks myths about Amazon rain forests
March 11, 2010A new NASA-funded study has concluded that Amazon rain forests were remarkably unaffected in the face of once-in-a-century drought in 2005, neither dying nor thriving, contrary to a previously published report and claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
"We found no big differences in the greenness level of these forests between drought and non-drought years, which suggests that these forests may be more tolerant of droughts than we previously thought," said Arindam Samanta, the study's lead author from Boston University.
The comprehensive study published in the current issue of the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters used the latest version of the NASA MODIS satellite data to measure the greenness of these vast pristine forests over the past decade.
A study published in the journal Science in 2007 claimed that these forests actually thrive from drought because of more sunshine under cloud-less skies typical of drought conditions. The new study found that those results were flawed and not reproducible.
"This new study brings some clarity to our muddled understanding of how these forests, with their rich source of biodiversity, would fare in the future in the face of twin pressures from logging and changing climate," said Boston University Prof. Ranga Myneni, senior author of the new study.
The IPCC is under scrutiny for various data inaccuracies, including its claim - based on a flawed World Wildlife Fund study -- that up to 40% of the Amazonian forests could react drastically and be replaced by savannas from even a slight reduction in rainfall.
"Our results certainly do not indicate such extreme sensitivity to reductions in rainfall," said Sangram Ganguly, an author on the new study, from the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute affiliated with NASA Ames Research Center in California.
"The way that the WWF report calculated this 40% was totally wrong, while [the new] calculations are by far more reliable and correct," said Dr. Jose Marengo, a Brazilian National Institute for Space Research climate scientist and member of the IPCC.
More information: Samanta, A., S. Ganguly, H. Hashimoto, S. Devadiga, E. Vermote, Y. Knyazikhin, R. R. Nemani, and R. B. Myneni (2010), Amazon forests did not green‐up during the 2005 drought, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L05401, doi:10.1029/2009GL042154
Provided by Boston University Medical Center
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Mar 11, 2010
Rank: 2.6 / 5 (5)
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 4.4 / 5 (7)
The Amazon basin is a huge area, you are going to find many differences in soil type, elevation, water table, micro-climates, seasonal changes, bioactivity, flora, fauna etc. Some areas will benefit from drought conditions to the detriment of other species and vice versa with increased precipitation. The stress produced by drought induces many trees to put on a reproductive show, looking deceptively healthy. Prolonged changes in precipitation, wind speed and cloud cover will have major effects on complex biosystems with a general short term (hundreds to thousands of years) reduction in biodiversity.
To lump all of the Amazon basin into one crass headline is very sloppy scientific journalism. No myths are debunked, on the contrary, as should be expected, some parts showed greening, others browning and both in the range shown by the results from both studies.
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 1.7 / 5 (11)
When it suits the Warmist agenda, all surface temperature records in a region can be reduced to the values of a single cell.
Consider the Grand Canyon, 277 miles long, 10 miles wide and 1 mile deep. The various micro-climates that must exist at that site is remarkable. The difference in temperatures at the valley bottom and the crests must be huge, yet we are happy to let some AGW joker claim that he can reduce this complex area to one temperature reading.
I've been to the Amazon basin, and despite its vast extend and beauty, the complexity of modelling that part of the globe cannot be more difficult than that of the Grand Canyon.
To lump the Grand Canyon into one temperature reading is stretching science further!
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 4 / 5 (4)
tsk tsk..You just can't trust anything from the World Wrestling Federation.
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 4.4 / 5 (7)
You then make an unrelated point about the Grand Canyon. It is possible to have an average temperature for the canyon in much the same way you can have an average temperature for the Earth's surface. The point being discussed was the changes in biodiversity over the Amazon basin and the differences the various microclimates, geology etc. have on this. Life and its adaptations are a lot more complicated and complex than taking average temperatures over a set piece of earth!
I think other readers would appreciate that you and your type actually make the effort to read the background to the stories, and indeed to other contributors, before burdening us with your reflex and increasingly tired arguments.
Thank you
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 4.1 / 5 (9)
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 1.5 / 5 (8)
Last year, I wrote that 'climategate' was just the beginning... There is yet more to come...watch for it... :)
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 1.4 / 5 (11)
If you see something you don't like, pass over it.
Or are you green with envy because you haven't been to the Amazons yet?
Mary Hinge, I disagree with you, I don't think this article was sloppy.
That's my view, different from yours. Deal with it.
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (6)
As well, I don't see how greenness measured from above, says anything about growth rates and nutrient flows within a multi-layered evergreen forest. Do the authors expect plants to skimp on chlorophyll just because there's less water available?
Mar 12, 2010
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
Greenness differs between Savannah and Rain Forest. The differences can be picked up by satellites equipped with the proper sensors to do so.
Mar 13, 2010
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
While it's nice to know that a brief drought apparently caused no harm to the extant rainforest, the thing that went unmentioned in the article is: what happens in an extended drought, and how does deforestation affect the overall frequency, duration, and severity of drought, and does this deforestation actually induce and/or enhance drought/cycle?
Mar 14, 2010
Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
As to what an extended drought might do, that is another question. It is a relatively simple matter to sample in various places from soils that are much older and see what the record of the past shows.
Mar 15, 2010
Rank: not rated yet
Mar 15, 2010
Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
Arindam Samanta (arindam.sam [at] gmail [dot] com)
Sangram Ganguly (sangramganguly [at] gmail [dot] com)
and grill them over confirmatory evidence for the underlying science in their study using the MODIS project land data.
The satellites involved in compiling and researching MODIS data do not measure a single color for studies like this. Usually, there are at least two or three bands used for varying studies.
By the way, I suggest knowing a bit about what you are talking about before attempting to contact the authors. You do not want to look like a total twit. :)