Dhaka, Feb. 16 -- The Amazon rainforest is facing a barrage of pressures that might tip it into large-scale ecosystem collapse as soon as 2050, according to new research Wednesday warning of dire consequences for the region and the world.
The Amazon, which holds more than 10 percent of the world's biodiversity, helps stabilise the global climate by storing the equivalent of around two decades of emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide.
But stress from deforestation, drought, fire and rising temperatures have eroded the ability of the Amazon's forests to withstand shocks, with scientists warning this could trigger a so-called "tipping point", pitching the crucial ecosystem into irreversible transition in the coming decades.
In the late...