A few days ago Boston University issued a press release on a scientific study about the Amazon's resilience to drought. The press release stated that the study had exposed the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's) theory that climate change could turn approximately 40 % of the Amazon into Savannah due to declining rainfall. According to Mongabay.com, nineteen of the world's top Amazonian experts have issued responses to the press release saying it was "misleading and inaccurate".
The study was about how the forest's level of greenness had not changed during the 2005 year drought. It was originally published in Geophysical Research Letters. It wasn't the study itself that upset Amazonian experts, but the press release, 'New Study debunks Myths about Amazon Rain Forests'. Th experts say there is no myth, only evidence that the forests are very susceptible to drought stress. To prove this the experts cite a recent study that found a "large surge" in tree mortality in 2005 that was consistent with the results of two experiments showing tree mortality after rain reductions.
The scientists say that the fact that climate change could 'flip' large portions of the Amazon, approximately 40 percent, into savannah, was not only accurately reflecting the research of the time, but "has been reinforced by new studies."
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