Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
06:10
Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
Amazon Dry Season Will Lengthen Under Future Climate
Igor José Malfetoni Ferreira1, Nathália S Carvalho2, Lina M Mercado3,4
1Remote Sensing Postgraduate Program (PGSER), Coordination for Education, Research and Outreach (COEPE), Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Global Change Biology
|July 23, 2026
Summary
The Amazon
Area of Science:
- Earth System Science
- Climate Science
- Ecology
Background:
- The Amazon rainforest is vital for Earth's climate, biodiversity, and carbon storage.
- It faces threats from climate change, including intensified droughts and heatwaves.
- Future warming is projected to exacerbate these conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To project changes in the Amazon's dry season timing, length, and spatial distribution this century.
- To analyze these changes under various Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs).
Main Methods:
- Utilized a multi-model ensemble from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6).
- Employed precipitation and evapotranspiration data to estimate monthly water balance (2000-2100).
- Calculated dry season onset, end, and length using accumulated water deficits for spatial analysis.
Main Results:
- A significant dry season lengthening is projected for 35% (low emissions) to 56% (high emissions) of the Amazon basin.
- Increases of up to two months in dry season length are expected by 2100, particularly in the southern and eastern Amazon.
- These changes risk forest degradation, altered water availability, and reduced carbon sink capacity.
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight urgent needs for climate adaptation strategies and mitigation policies focused on seasonal water availability.
- Safeguarding Amazonian ecosystems and hydrological functions requires ambitious greenhouse gas emission reductions.
- These actions are crucial for local, regional, and global climate stability.
Related Concept Videos
01:16What is Climate?
Climate refers to the prevailing weather conditions in a specific area over an extended period. As the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” Climate is influenced by geographic factors, such as latitude, terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.
01:50Global Climate Change
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
01:07What is Weather?
Overview
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
01:27Microbes and Climate Change
Microorganisms are pivotal agents in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, significantly influencing climate dynamics through their metabolic activities. These microbes modulate the levels of key greenhouse gases by both contributing to and helping mitigate climate change.Microbial Contributions to Greenhouse Gas EmissionsRising global temperatures accelerate microbial metabolism, which, in turn, speeds up the decomposition of organic matter. This process releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) through...
02:41Responses to Drought and Flooding
Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.