Climate change, deforestation and the fate of the Amazon

The forest biome of Amazonia is one of Earth’s greatest biological treasures and a major component of the Earth system. This century, it faces the dual threats of deforestation and stress from climate change. Here, we summarize some of the latest findings and thinking on these threats, explore the consequences for the forest ecosystem and its human residents, and outline options for the future of Amazonia. We also discuss the implications of new proposals to finance preservation of Amazonian forests. The forests of Amazonia (1) covered about5.4 million km2 in 2001, approximately87 % of their original extent (2), with 62% in Brazil. They host perhaps a quarter of the world’s terrestrial species (3) and account for about 15 % of global terrestrial photosynthesis (4). Evaporation and condensation over Amazonia are engines of the global atmospheric cir-culation, having downstream effects on precipi-tation across South America and further afield across the Northern Hemisphere (5, 6). Amazo-nian forests have been an important and con