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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Fabiano Maisonnave

Scientists reveal what would happen if the Amazon rainforest dried out

A white tree that is dead stands within a section of the Caxiuana National Forest that is used as a control plot for an experiment on drought run by the Esecaflor project - (AP)

Beneath the dense canopy of the Amazon, a clearing reveals the stark reality of prolonged drought. Fallen logs decay, trees thin out, and the temperature rises where sunlight penetrates.

This scene is the result of 24 years of severe drought in the world’s largest rainforest. But it is human-made – this degraded patch of forest, roughly the size of a soccer field, is the site of a scientific experiment.

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